Circle of Fate
by kaitothegreat
Summary: Meeting him was fate, trusting him was a choice. And beyond her control, love got to mess her up in some way or another. Police-setting!AU
1. Kuroba Kaito

Circle of Fate

Meeting him was fate, trusting him was a choice. And beyond her control, love got to mess her up in some way or another. Police-setting AU

1: Kuroba Kaito

* * *

Fate had always been a funny thing.

Some people felt that opportunities and events happened because of their own choices and minds, while the rest thought that certain occurrences happened because they were predetermined. Both of these beliefs weren't wrong, but there was no definite side that one could be sure of.

For example. Nakamori Aoko had decided to squeeze herself behind a big pillar under the clock tower because she wanted to avoid the sun. It was her choice, she could have brought an umbrella out while waiting for her father, but she didn't want to because she found it troublesome.

Another example. Nakamori Aoko had choose to follow her father's footstep and joined the police workforce to be as hardworking as her father had always been. He influenced her decision in some way, but she always had other alternatives to consider.

And of course, it was entirely Nakamori Aoko's decision to work her ass off for her passion every single day. Eventually, she was spotted for her talents and efforts and was transferred over to a particular Division 1 she always wanted to join; a team of trained and skilled detectives who solved numerous vital cases belonging under the great Detective of the East, Kudo Shinichi.

But like once said, everything wasn't exactly up to our control.

For example. Taking three steps too early before reaching the pillar, or turning her head two seconds too late before a little young boy spotted her from afar.

It was just a little thing that couldn't have possibly made any big difference in Nakamori Aoko's life. But it did. She never once had to walk past an advertisement of a ski resort with a sad frown. She never once had to rack her brains to get ideas for dinner plans because fish was always an easy dish to prepare. She never once had to look into the mirror twice and wonder if she should do anything to her looks or body to change the impression of others.

She never once knew who Kuroba Kaito was.

.o.

Finding her way to her new department wasn't an easy task, especially when there wasn't something like an orientation for the ever-busy life of a police. Aoko was told someone would guide her around soon, but it was rather ironic when the tour happened _after_ she had basically roamed the entire building just to find the place she had to report to.

She asked around, to receive different answers from different people most of the time. On the fifteenth floor of the building, she had changed her focus and was heading towards a vending machine to get a drink instead when she accidentally bumped into a man walking around the corner of the corridor. A simple apology could have fixed it, but it wasn't that easy when almost a dozen files slipped out of the man's hands and fell to the ground, countless papers scattering all over and covering the entire floor in white.

"Are you _fucking_ kidding me?"

"I'm so sorry." Aoko squatted down and frantically tried to save what she could, but the man gave her no chance and pushed her hands away.

"Stop. Stop." He growled and squatted opposite her. "God, I've bloody sorted the papers for two hours and it's in a mess _again_."

"I'm trying to help."

"Oh yeah." He snapped and randomly slotted the papers back into the files he guessed was correct. "You'll be helping if you move your ass away."

Her embarrassment and guilt that caused her cheeks to tint pink was long gone, replacing with fury and unjust that made her face turned bright red instead. Hadn't she apologized? Hadn't she offered to help? What was wrong with this guy?!

Aoko glared hard at him, trying to get his blue eyes away from the ground to look at her, just to show and let him know how furious she was right now. But he didn't notice, or rather, didn't care. Still, she didn't budge in her squatting position and continued her one-sided staring contest until she realized something she couldn't believe. Nonetheless, the words came out before she could stop herself.

"Inspector Kudo Shinichi?"

Her unintentional calling worked wonders to get him to glance up at her sharply, his face turned even darker than previously.

"I'm not Kudo Shinichi." He muttered.

How could that be? She had idolized the detective since she was going through trainings to become a police officer, and she had read every newspapers and magazines about him, with all sorts of his pictures with different camera angles being the main attention of the page. There was no way she could be wrong-

The swaying pass hanging over the man's neck caught her attention in an instant. She decided to use her own measures to confirm about her own theory and stared at the identification picture (who she still believed was Kudo Shinichi) before her eyes travelled down to the name below it.

 _Kuroba Kaito  
Division 1: Homicide Squad_

"I think I should help." Aoko gulped and offered her hand to the files that he had finished randomly sorting. His brows furrowed a little and his blue eyes moved to her chest. She was positive that the blouse she wore today would cover enough and prevent him from taking advantage on her, but she looked down just to make sure.

"Oh." He dropped the few papers he picked up in his hand and tugged onto her ID. She felt her lanyard pulling her neck down, though she remained as firm as she could. "I suppose we'll be working _real_ close together, Nakamori Aoko."

She wished he was wrong about that, even if he didn't sound pleasant about it at all.

He dumped more than half of the finished and arranged files onto her arms and led her to the Division 1 department. It seemed it was on the next floor, one that she was about to visit before that tragic accident happened. Weirdly, he didn't ask which team she was assigned to since there were up to a dozen teams within Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters, though she presumably guessed it was because he wasn't interested. She wasn't really interested in his either.

But that beautiful ignorance lasted for two minutes when he pushed past the glass door to an empty office and asked her to put the files she carried for him on a desk, which she guessed belonged to him when he sat on the roller chair in front of it. Before she could even ask him about where to find Kudo Shinichi, the very said man walked out of a room that was located at the corner of the office.

"Ah, Nakamori-san, right?" Kudo Shinichi smiled when their eyes met and gestured her into the room he just walked out. "I was about to send a search party for you. Come in."

Her jaws dropped as she took a quick glance at Kuroba Kaito at his desk, his head down and focused on... his phone and the Candy Crush game. _What the hell?_ The files were left aside on his messy desk, seemed to have been forgotten.

Aoko tentatively walked towards the room, her head hung a little low. The excitement and joy she once felt about her transfer had died bit by bit when she was trying to find her way around the huge building, and it was completely gone when she noted the too-empty desk situated a few feet away from the man she met in an unpleasant encounter just ten minutes ago.

She always trusted her guts' feeling. But there wasn't a need for a brain to know her new life wouldn't be as smooth as she thought it would be.

.o.

Though Aoko wasn't the youngest, she was definitely new on this team. And status and rank did mean a lot in the police force, not just for the amount of respect to be given, but also the duties provided to the respective people. She was not excluded from this unspoken rule.

So when she came back to her desk after submitting a report, she saw a piece of note over her keyboards, scribbled with different kinds of coffee each member on the team wanted.

She headed to the pantry area quietly and began her mundane task. It always took her some time to get everything on the list done, and she prayed none of the higher ranks members (those that were obviously not on the coffee list) wouldn't think she had went to take some unauthorized long breaks. She had enough shit to deal with.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Aoko flinched in surprise, some sugar had spilled out from the opened sachet and scattered over her hand. She gritted her teeth in annoyance before turning to stare at the man she recognized from the voice. "I'm making coffee." She didn't bother to hide the _are-you-blind_ tone as she swiped off the sugar bits into a little bin on the floor conveniently beside her. Thankfully, somehow, he didn't seem to pick up her little rude attitude.

"I didn't know you have six mouths."

She licked her dry lips and eyed at the sticky note she pasted on the cabinet above her head for easier reference. It wasn't on purpose that she wanted to expose her coffee duties, but she couldn't help but to automatically look at the paper, just _because_. And obviously Kuroba Kaito spotted it. He peeled the note off the cabinet, none to gentle.

"Cappuccino... Latte..." He flicked a gaze over to her. "Learn how to write their names in cursive on their cups and you're all ready to become a great barista from Starbucks."

"I-"

"How long has this been going?"

"Erm, I'm not sure." Probably the time since she joined, which was nearly three weeks ago... not like her answer mattered. She really didn't want trouble with her colleagues because her very _first_ day proved her point. She tentatively glanced down at the note in Kuroba Kaito's hand, praying slightly he would return it back to her already. She needed to see whether Sakamoto-kun wanted a teaspoon of sugar or one and a quarter teaspoon of sugar for his coffee. He never once wanted the same amount of sugar for his coffee every time. She wondered if people were just plainly weird or he wanted to make her coffee duties a little more different and interesting every day. Probably the former.

"You're not here for a coffee run. Don't give them a chance to bully you because you're new."

 _Didn't you do the same to me when we first met?_ The words were stuck in her throat. Still, she gave him her thanks for his kind-of-not-helping-but-a-little-comforting comment. He waved her off nonchalantly before shoving a folder into her hand.

"What's this?" Aoko blinked.

"Your first case."

She opened the file incredulously and peered at the brief report. It was regarding about a murder case that happened a few days ago and she was left out from it because she was obviously _too busy_ for her data entry duties and excel spreadsheets to be called in for it.

"You're working this case with me. Holmes's freak wants you to try out in the field."

There were so many things running through her mind that she didn't know what to focus on. She gaped at Kuroba Kaito and then at the precious details and records he had already gathered about the murder since the first day. This was her first homicide case ever since she joined the team-! But first... "Holmes's freak...?"

"You'll understand what I mean soon." He scoffed and jabbed a finger into the file. "I'll go get the car. We'll be going to the victim's workplace to interview some people. Read the content as much as you can. I'll talk more about it on the way."

Aoko dumbly peered over her shoulder and stared at the six cups of drinks. "What about-"

"What do you think?"

She gripped onto the folder and nodded, her decision silently made.

When they headed out of the pantry area, a few heads lifted up expectantly at her until they realized they weren't going to get their drinks delivered to their tables now, or ever again. This time, somehow, Aoko was able to raise her head a little higher as she snaked her way to the door, following closely behind Kuroba Kaito out and to the car park.

.o.

Interviewing the dead could have been easier.

It was the usual routine every time a murder happened. Breaking the news to the poor family members and asking for details about the victim, about what they did, where they hung out, who they possible offended and such.

And that didn't exclude a young girl who died this wee morning after she was found in the park, rape _and_ murdered. It was a tragedy that Aoko couldn't help but choke a little when she went to the scene with the others, and it didn't help when the forensics had brought in reports from the morgue later that day, stating there were more hidden injuries on the victim, and it didn't occur _on_ the day she died. It was definitely a case related to abuse too.

The mother held no pain, no sadness and no anger when Aoko and Kuroba Kaito knocked on her door. She simply gestured them into the tattered home with a cigarette in her mouth without any emotions in her eyes. They interrogated for a bit, and the mother replied with vague answers that wasn't any help in the investigation. Aoko had noticed Kuroba Kaito was tapping his feet rather impatiently ever since they sat on the dusty couch, but it was her who blew up first.

"There were bruise and injuries on the victim's back and arms, and those didn't happen during the murder." She pretended to read from her notes, but she had already got all the information jotted in her head. "Do you have any idea what had happened?"

"She fell." The mother shrugged nonchalantly. "Or maybe she knocked against a cabinet. Who knows?"

"I'm pretty sure you knew, madam." Aoko whispered through gritted teeth. "The reason why your daughter had ran away too."

"Haven't I said I don't know?" The mother grudgingly stubbed the cigarette onto the table. "And why do I feel like you're trying to make me sound like the criminal here?"

"Your so-called accidents were all behind closed doors, just like how those bruise and scars were once hidden behind her clothes." Aoko growled, her throat turning sour. "But those doors aren't closed anymore. You don't have the luxury of your pathetic privacy. We'll find out everything. One way or another. Sooner or later."

"Are you threatening me?!"

"I'm just stating the fact." Aoko jumped up from her seat and glanced at Kuroba Kaito, who was watching her for a while with an impressive poker-face. "Thank you for your time. We will be leaving now."

It was never her cue to determine whether an interrogation or interview was over, and she realized her mistake a little too late. But Kuroba Kaito stood up without a word and headed to the door with his hands in his pocket. She followed behind and he opened the door when the owner obviously showed no intention of wanting to send them out.

Aoko stomped towards the car that was parked by the pavement, hoping to dispel all the anger within her as much as she could before the ride back to the headquarters. She had to wait for Kuroba Kaito to unlock the car, which was typically slow for some reason and it helped nothing to soothe her temper.

After they got in the car, she put on her seat belt, trying to ignore the obvious gaze directing towards her. She gave up in the end and looked at him.

"Menopause?"

 _Screw you._ "No."

"You're less empathetic than usual."

"She deserved that."

"And... you're not regretting it?"

Aoko bit her lips, the pang of guilt kicked in on the cue. Maybe she was a little harsh, and maybe it wasn't her rights to determine if the mother was right or wrong. But she said what she felt and-

"You don't have to feel bad. You said what's right." He leaned in close towards her, still not making any signs of starting the car. "I like it when you look like some little kitten, but appear so tiger-like whenever you want. Maybe I can let you be the bad cop once in a while."

She gave a withering look. "If you're not going to drive any time soon, you're going to see the tiger in me up close."

" _Nakamori?_ " It was a warning in four syllables, and she instantly knew why.

"You're going to see the tiger in me up close, _Inspector Kuroba_."

"That's better." He grinned and started the car.

.o.

Murder cases didn't have specific seasons. They strike and it happened, no matter what kind of day or date or period of the year. Work always kept Aoko busy. Her precious time she once used to spend shopping or watching movies were at the bottom of the list of things to do even during the weekends now. But it didn't stop her from loving her job. Somehow, she had finally understood her father's action in the past.

And because she spent more than half of her time at the office, her interactions with her colleagues increased more and more, and it wasn't strange when rumours and gossips began floating here and there. Little things like two people coincidentally going to the pantry area at the same time would mean they were having an affair, or when someone went to the bathroom a little bit longer than others meant they were having a wank.

Aoko wasn't excluded from all these shit either.

"You did a good job." Shinichi closed the file of her report with a proud little smile. It was more than what she deserved.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement and they exchanged a few brief mundane conversation before she headed out of his personal office. When the door closed behind her, she didn't miss out a few of her colleagues scurrying back to their desk and looking extremely focused on their work, like they were _obviously not_ talking behind her back.

It was better to play along and pretend she didn't notice too. As she walked back to her desk and slumped onto her chair, she couldn't help but glance over her shoulder. Her guts' feeling was right. Kuroba Kaito was staring at her, both of his feet propped up on his desk and a newspaper in his hand.

"What." She muttered.

"Want a coffee?"

"I just-"

"Good to hear. Let's go." He folded the newspaper and dumped them on his chair and signalled her out to the door. "The vending machine."

It didn't sound like an invitation she could decline. Sighing inwardly, she abandoned her work post and left for the door, following him out to the corridor.

When they both reached the vending machine, he stood aside and gestured her closer.

"Ladies first."

Aoko raised an eyebrow and flipped the coins she had prepared on her hand while she was walking to the vending machine. It was weird for Kuroba Kaito to be _so_ nice to her out of the sudden, but maybe today was her lucky day. _Maybe._ She shook away the thought and stepped a little closer and pushed the coins into the hole, the lights on the drinks' buttons lit up. Just when she was about to press her choice, Kuroba Kaito abruptly slammed his hand on the vending machine and a button was pressed.

"Opps."

"What the hell?"

"I felt an itch at my back. It was a reflex."

A can of coffee dropped down and the lights on the buttons disappeared. Aoko frowned. "I didn't want that."

"It's non-refundable."

"Then you should pay me."

"It's an accident. According to the law, I don't owe you anything." He bent down and retrieved the coffee. "And since you didn't want this, I'll drink it for your sake. You should thank me for saving you from the guilt of world hunger."

Aoko clicked her tongue and dug into her pockets again, luckily fishing out a bunch of leftover coins she could use for the drink she wanted. She eyed him, making sure he wasn't going to do any stupid move and slotted the coins in before quickly punching the button. The soft drink she wanted dropped down in a second.

She cracked open her can and took a little sip. It was nice to have breaks like this often.

"So what's up with you and the Holmes's freak?"

This was not the nice break she was referring to.

"There's nothing between us."

It was so obvious that the rumours that were going around involved her having a relationship with her boss. Aoko had no idea how and who the hell came up with something insane like this, but it happened, and it didn't die down even after this ridiculous story was spreading around for a month. She thought they would eventually move on to some better gossips to pass their time, and she had never been so wrong. Her sort-of-partner didn't talk about it to her once, until today. She wasn't surprise that he did, but she was surprise he did it _now,_ after so long.

"It's not healthy to start a relationship with people in the office." He shrugged. "It's bloody troublesome and tiring."

"Came from an experience?" She dryly joked.

" _Many_ experiences."

"Seriously?" She was struggling between thinking whether she should commit insubordination and ask who those poor and unlucky girls were or stay mute. But he helped her with her decision.

"It's a fling. Nothing more than that. But it's already complicated. So do you get my point?"

Aoko blinked. "Erm, thanks for your constructive feedback but I'm not in a relationship with anyone. And that _includes_ the boss."

"Right." He drawled.

"Why don't you believe me?"

"I never say I didn't."

"You sounded like you're don't."

"It seems I've trained you well with your observation skills." He gave a grin that tempted her to roll her eyes. "But honestly, I couldn't care less. Just don't affect your work performance and drag me down and I'll thank heaven for that"

She scowled. "And why are we having this conversation again?"

"For the coffee." He raised his metal can and took a sip. "Thanks for the treat, Nakamori."

As he walked off, Aoko swore she saw a smirk tugging on his lips.

.o.

Previously being under the fraud department in a smaller police headquarters, Aoko interacted more with the living rather than the dead. It was an irony that she never liked murder, yet she was working in the department that consisted nothing but it.

Knowing the mentality and the reasons behind the murder could greatly help to find who the killer was much easier. This was what Shinichi once tipped her about when she was stuck in a case, but the side effect of getting too into that role was a little too much for her. So here she was in a quiet bar not far from her home after a fruitful day at work, just to get rid of those negative feelings lurking in her head. She knew her body well. A glass of beer was enough for her to get a good and undisturbed sleep for the whole night, and that was exactly what she needed to get the best rest today. She thought she deserved it.

"I'm not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together tonight."

Aoko blinked into her beer and glanced to her side.

It took her a little while to focus her eyes on the man that stood beside her. The light slanted across his face, highlighting the lining in his cheeks, the edge of his jaw, the full curves of his lower lips. It struck sparks in his sea blue eyes. Instead of caring about what she saw under the dim, romantic lights, she started to take notice of the familiarity of his scent, the way he leaned his body against the counter, and how his slightly melancholic voice echoed in her mind even though he was no longer speaking.

She widened her eyes. And so did the man.

"Nakamori?"

"Kuroba."

Aoko wrinkled her nose in disgust as they both slouched in sync. She wasn't sure if his reason was the same as hers, but maybe it was close enough.

"Is that how you pick up girls?" She snorted

"I didn't."

"I'm pretty sure you just tried something on me."

"Don't flatter yourself. You're not my type." He muttered at the translucent lamps hanging above their head.

She had no idea why she was feeling so particularly bold that night. Was it the alcohol? Probably. Even if it was not, she didn't care to know. All she wanted was to get her clouded mind to clear. "What's your type?"

"Busty."

"That's all?"

"It's all I need. And all the things you don't have."

She growled softly under her breath. "Only jerks care about that."

"All men do. You can try asking your ex-boyfriends."

"I don't have any boyfriends before."

"Ah, that proves my point even more, doesn't it?"

Her hand gripped around her glass tightly as she felt her small smile stiffened on her face. "Sorry, but I'll like to have my drink in peace."

He raised his glass and gave a smile obviously brighter than hers back before making his way to the crowd and disappeared, probably going to find his next target or some sort. Aoko heaved a heavy and deep sigh, letting out all the fuss and anger in her. She was so, _so_ tempted to whip something, probably a mop, over his good head just for the sake of it.

The reason why she didn't wasn't only because he was higher in rank than her within the team. Even with his numerous personality defects she found out about him for the past few months after her transfer, Kuroba Kaito was _really_ good and smart at what he was doing. She learnt a lot from him, including redundant information like how women blink nearly twice more than men. That point was made because he commented about how her fluttering eyelashes were distracting him while they were investigating a murder scene. How could he blame her for a habit she couldn't get rid when she was trying to positively think hard for the case? Why was he even looking at her eyelashes in the first place?!

Aoko took in a deep breath and sipped onto her beer, trying to force herself to let loose by not thinking about _anything_. She almost succeeded if she hadn't spotted Kuroba Kaito strolling out of the bar a few moments later, with a happy _and_ busty lady in his arms.

.o.

A stakeout was one of the most common duties in the team, but that didn't mean Aoko was used to it.

She rubbed her puffy eyes and stared out of the car window and at one of the five houses that the current suspect of a murder owned. The rich bastard's location was currently unknown, so with the limited manpower Shinichi had, the team was split to five teams to look out for all his houses as there was a high chance he would eventually go back to one.

For some reason or another, she was stuck in the same car as Kuroba Kaito, alone.

He threw the binoculars over the dashboard and turned to the back seat. She glanced at him busily rummaging behind and was about to ask what he was up to when he took a packet of sandwich and shoved it in her face.

"Eat this."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm not asking if you're hungry." He dumped it onto her lap instead. "Keep yourself busy by eating or you'll fall asleep."

She scrutinized the messy passenger seats doubtfully for a while and nervously turned towards him. "May I know how old is this bread?"

"I bought it an hour before the stakeout." He looked a little offended.

"Just asking to make sure."

"Yeah, right."

Not bothering to sound like she was grateful, at least not for him, she peeled off the plastic and was about to devour the chicken sandwich when she felt her head plunged forward, her nose dipped right into the mayonnaise.

"Wha da hell-!" Her voice muffled into the bread

"Lie low." He whispered beside her, his head hung equally low. "Target is here."

She struggled under his tight grasp and gave up when he showed no signs to let go. After a few seconds, he lifted his head and removed his hand from her head and she could finally breathe in fresh air rather than the stale bread.

"You got something on your nose."

" _I know._ " She snapped and wiped the mayonnaise off.

He gave a brief report on the radio that their house they were spying on was the jackpot. As everyone was making their way to where they were at, Shinichi tasked them to be in charge to stall the criminal as much as they could. The murder involved the usage of a gun, and _that_ should obviously mean something. Even if the arrest was important, their safety was still priority-

Kuroba Kaito cut the chit-chat and switched the radio off, much to her dismay. She should have expected it coming.

They got out of the car and silently made their way towards the house. Surprisingly, the door was left ajar and they took out their hidden gun in sync and pressed their glued arms closed to their chest. He eyed her for a second and she nodded to tell him she was ready. She had always been ready. Her hand gripped tightly to the gun. She hoped she was right about herself.

He pushed the door gently before shoving it aside and jumped in, his pistol's barrel pointing at thin air. She followed in quietly behind him after he made sure there wasn't anyone preparing an ambush near them. Everything was dark, only the little light from outside helped to illuminate the house. He signalled her to the kitchen that was on the right of the corridor while he stealthily walked towards the end, which linked to the living room. Obeying the command, she tiptoed her way towards the kitchen and swung her gun when she entered. It was empty.

That was when she heard a loud crash coming the other side of the house. And she was positive it was the direction of the living room.

She sprinted towards the commotion and found Kuroba Kaito struggling under a bulky man that fitted the description of the suspect, two guns were abandoned and luckily out of their reach. The suspect gave a solid punch at Kuroba Kaito's stomach, to which he gave a low groan before attempting a punch at the suspect's face. At the split moment after his attack, he caught sight of her and glared. She easily translated as: _What the heck are you doing?_

It would be dangerous to use her gun since the wrestling was making her aim difficult. Instead, she shoved the gun back into her pocket and picked up a lamp and landed it over the back of the suspect's neck. He was instantly knocked out cold and collapsed onto Kuroba Kaito and he pushed him off his body to get back up to his feet.

"Extremely fast, Nakamori." He growled and rubbed his stomach.

She didn't miss out his tone of sarcasm. "I'm trying to find a safe way to attack."

He ignored her and picked up his radio that was also on the floor, probably being cast aside during the fight. While he was updating the status of the criminal back to the team, she took the chance to handcuff the man, making sure he wouldn't wake up in the middle and attack again. They would be staying here a tad bit longer after all, to collect all the evidence the criminal had possibly stored here.

After he was done, Kuroba Kaito stared at the unconscious suspect and frowned at her.

"How hard did you hit him anyway?"

"Very." She shrugged. "I imagined he was you."

* * *

I've recently read a couple of detective fiction-stories and eventually ended up **loving** the idea of a police-settings AU (and also because some of u voted in my poll that you wanted to read more AUs too), so this fic happened. Basically this story would most likely be a strings of events about these two in this alternate universe and then... Romance...? I hope so too lol.

Thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated :)


	2. Kaito

Circle of Fate

2: Kaito

* * *

If anyone ever challenged her beliefs, Aoko would show a temper like a tiger for it. But other than that, she was as pure as a little kitten that everyone adored in the force, which made her an easy target to tease. She was exactly what Kuroba Kaito once described her not so long ago, and it irked her a little to know it was the truth.

Though even if it did happen, she always tried to use her patience to ensure her anger was kept in check when it was towards someone she couldn't blow her temper at, and it was also one of the things Aoko learnt from Kuroba Kaito, because he had always been testing her patience since day one. It was considered rare when she couldn't control herself.

And this time round was one of those rare moments. Almost.

There were four unsolved murder cases originally being handled individually by other Division 1 squads, but once a trend and connection started to show, Kudo Shinichi's team was being placed in charge to find the serial killer, who possibly had a strong grudge against _magicians_ to kill four within one year.

But that wasn't the reason for Aoko's current conflicted emotions.

It was because Kuroba Kaito was out of the case.

She couldn't believe her ears when Shinichi declared about the new adjustment of roles. It wasn't the first time this happened, but it never applied on Kuroba Kaito before. As much as she wished she wouldn't admit, he was a brilliant asset to the team, and Shinichi knew it too. But with no apparent reason given, the entire team was told he would be off from this investigation during the meeting moments ago. Why? _Why?_

"Why?" Her soft voice echoed in the nearly empty office that contained only her and the owner alone. She was assigned to do an interview with the fourth victim's family, but she couldn't leave with a heavy heart. She needed to know _why_.

Shinichi placed his arms on his desk. "He's not fit for it."

"Not fit?" Aoko bit her lips. "Was he involved in a case similar to this before?"

He simply sighed.

"Inspector Kudo, with all due respect, I wish to know as much as I could about the case if I'm part of it, including why Inspector Kuroba wasn't part of the investigation." She felt her voice was starting to tremble. If it wasn't for her status, she would've been demanding for an answer right now. It was unfair, not just to Kuroba Kaito, but to the families of the victims. They should be ensured that the best treatment and effort would be put into solving the case, but now that one of the smartest man she knew was taken out... it didn't make sense!

 _Patience... Patience..._

"Yes. He's involved in a case similar to this. Very involved, actually." Shinichi tapped a finger on a file. "I want to remind you that you are _not_ allowed to leak out any information regarding this case to him, even if he ordered you to. The cases are confidential to those who are not participating in this, and you understand this rule as much as I do."

He still didn't exactly answer her second question, but since he gave her one, she had to answer him back, even if she asked him first. She straightened her posture. "I do understand, Inspector Kudo."

He picked up a file and handed it to her. She blinked in puzzlement, being sure that in the meeting previously, everyone had already received all the necessary information for the murders, including her. Nonetheless, she accepted the file from his hand, though a little tentatively.

"This file is confidential from _everyone_." Shinichi said before he locked his gaze firmly with hers.

"Eh?"

"It contained the answers you want to know about your partner."

 _Partner?_ She didn't consider Kuroba Kaito as her partner before, and she wondered why she never once think that way. All she saw him was a working colleague, a troublesome an annoying desk-neighbour... She shook her head and stared down at the file in her hand. The papers inside weighed like feathers, but she felt like she was carrying a ton of burden.

"I'm only allowing you to see it because I _trust_ you to keep it a secret." Shinichi leaned back on his chair, a sign that the conversation was about to end. "Read it and draw your own conclusion. You'll return that file back to me by the next meeting, privately."

"Yes, Inspector Kudo."

With nothing else to say (and honestly because she wanted to read the _so-called_ answers in her hands), Aoko walked out of the office and skipped towards her chair with the file pressing hard on her chest. She sat down on her seat and placed it on her desk carefully like it was made of glass and flipped open the cover to stare at the heading.

 _Konosuke Jii. Age 65. Male._  
 _Death: Three bullets-_

"What are you doing?"

She literally jumped in her seat as her hands frantically slammed the file shut.

"N-Nothing."

Kuroba Kaito was standing directly behind her chair. The carpet on the floor must have minus the sound of his approaching footsteps. His face was shadowed, his expression equally dark. She kept a hand on the cover and twisted her body a little to look at him more properly. His blue eyes were no longer on her but on her hand, or rather the file underneath it.

"Where the hell is everyone? The office was bloody empty when I came in the morning."

She licked her dry lips.

"I've heard the team is placed in charge of the four magicians' murder." He had changed the subject after a moment of silence, though it still wasn't in her favour. "Is that the case file of the fourth victim?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"No." She was confident enough to say so.

He tilted her chair to make her completely face him, but her hand stubbornly refused to move away from the file. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned to focus his attention on her again. She could smell mint from his breath.

"Your first word is a lie. Second isn't." He furrowed his brows. "So is it the third victim? Second victim? Which one are we investigating now?"

" _We_ aren't."

He straightened up as if she had pushed him, his eyes staring down at her with surprise and enough hurt to make her feel sorry, guilty and unsure of herself.

"What are you saying?" He spat. "You are and I'm not? Who has the rights to cut me out?"

She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that the office was mostly empty since everyone was out in the field and finding clues after the meeting had ended half an hour ago, which Kuroba Kaito obviously didn't attend because he didn't even know there was one. She gulped and felt herself cowering into her seat. He was often frustrated and annoyed, but never once was he _pissed._ And it was till now then she suddenly missed that cheeky and annoying grin he always wore. Shinichi might be right. Maybe it wasn't because he wasn't allowed on the case. Maybe he wasn't _fit_ for it instead. She wished she could read the file first before deciding what she should do now. But-

"I did."

Seeming to have heard the little commotion, Shinichi was standing by his door, his arms crossed. Kuroba Kaito turned towards him and gave a low growl.

" _Why?_ " He didn't sound angry. He sounded... betrayed.

"You know as well as I do."

"I've asked you." Kuroba Kaito began walking to Shinichi, his fist clenched. "I've _begged_ you."

"We'll talk inside." Shinichi gestured him into his room and gave a brief glance at her before entering back into his office.

Kuroba Kaito slammed the door shut behind him. Even though she was half-expecting him to do so, she still flinched at the sound.

Through the gap in the blinds, she could see Kuroba Kaito dangerously leaning his body over the desk, and it took a minute of Shinichi's constant talking till he straightened his posture, both arms swinging loosely at his side. He was looking at the floor, not at Shinichi, not at anything. And in the middle of the one-sided conversation, he turned and swung open the door to leave and she pathetically tried to pretend as if she was too busy with her work to be spying on them.

But he didn't seem to care. His eyes was still focused on the ground as he headed out of the main office. He looked like something in him died, and she was sure it wasn't anger.

After giving herself a minute to regain her composure, Aoko mustered enough energy to peel open the file again.

 _Konosuke Jii. Age 65. Male._  
 _Death: Three bullets in chest._

 _Suspect:_

She widened her eyes.

 _Suspect: Kuroba Kaito_

.o.

It didn't take her long to finish reading the report before evening. The file was thin, with little information and limited clues to piece together. All she knew about Konosuke Jii was that he once owned a bar near town and lived by himself in a quiet flat, unmarried and alone.

All of the magicians died with three bullets in their chest. Same as Konosuke Jii. All were aimed at the heart. Same as Konosuke Jii. All happened after the magician's show. Same as Konosuke Jii. The similarity of these cases were too high to think that Konosuke Jii's death was not involved with the current serial murders, but there was _one_ difference, and her guts' feeling was telling her this piece of information was _very_ vital. That was what she told Shinichi the next day she passed the file back to him before the meeting. He simply nodded to her words, nothing else.

Konosuke Jii wasn't a magician. He was a magician's assistant. The magician, however, was very much alive, although the last time she saw him, he looked almost as soulless as every murdered victim she saw at the crime scene.

Kuroba Kaito _was_ a magician. He was _that_ magician.

Three days had passed since she last saw him. A day had passed since the fifth murder happened. She never brought up about requesting for Kuroba Kaito's assistance to Shinichi again.

The same meeting like every other day happened and nothing fruitful came about. As the team was dispatched to do the usual activities of investigation and interviewing, Aoko spent her time reading files under the cold-case section in the records room. As a dutiful police officer, she was ashamed to admit that she was avoiding her current duties to focus on something else, but there was something more important about Konosuke Jii's case than the five murders, something... awful... She had no idea what she was finding, but that didn't stop her search for any possible related events further in the past, further back when Konosuke Jii was still alive...

And then she was chased out by the supervisor because it was late, because unlike her, people wanted to go home and sleep.

A year working at the same place almost every single day had set an auto-pilot to her feet. Even when her thoughts and mind were far from reality, she was pretty sure she would safely reach her bus stop no matter what. The only thing that could possibly deterred her route would be if a nuisance suddenly blocked her entire path, like now.

Her face nearly hit the man's chest and she glanced up sharply, her eyes met Kuroba Kaito's cold blue ones. She stepped back, about to complain about how he almost scared her when he tugged onto her arm, pushed her to the edge of the pavement and to the empty road and waved. In less than a second, a cab stopped right by their side. How _lucky_ she was, for a cab to appear so fast when she didn't want one, yet she could wait for hours when she bloody needed one.

He opened the door. "In there."

"I'm taking a bus."

"Cut your bullshit about being environmentally-friendly and saving the earth. You're coming with me."

She scoffed. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Why not? You don't trust me?"

She looked up at him, about to say something cutting, but the words faded out of her mind when she realized he actually meant it. His face was set, the strain showing around his eyes and mouth. Her chest cringed, for some unknown reason. She looked away instead.

"What do you want from me?"

"I-" He lowered his gaze, seeming as if he wasn't the one who dragged her to a cab. "I don't know."

"Excuse me?" The driver peered over his shoulder. "Do you want to get in or not? I have mouths to feed."

Kuroba Kaito let go of her arm, silent. He was waiting for her to answer.

She remembered the details of the investigation, about how Kuroba Kaito was found cradling Kinosuke Jii with blood covering his entire body, about how a gun was found in one of his equipment lockers, about how he and the victim had a conflict a few moments before the performance started, and about how everything that was originally pointing him of murder to be all cleared just because a CCTV caught him on tape and provided his alibi during the time of the gunshots' sound.

 _During the time of the gunshots' sound. Unable to determine exact time of death._ In those exact words, it was typed in bold red.

 _Suspect: Kuroba Kaito_

The three words consistently haunted her mind, and she wasn't sure if it was fear or-

She cleared her throat and smiled sheepishly at the driver before getting into the car. "Sorry to make you wait." She scooted further inside for Kuroba Kaito to get in.

It couldn't have been fear. That was something she was sure of.

Those thoughts were saved for later.

.o.

The address Kuroba Kaito gave to the driver was somewhere not far from her home, but she didn't feel like starting a conversation about it. After fifteen minutes of the silent ride, he paid for the cab and they got off and onto the empty street as the only car on the road drove away, leaving only the lights of the flickering lamps above her for company. She tugged her bag closer to her body and stood an assumed safe distance from Kuroba Kaito.

He was trained as a police officer earlier than her. Trained as a magician with tricks up his sleeves. Trained enough to hurt her before she could react. She took in a deep breath. She wasn't sure if she was feeling regretful now or what, but she was sure that she would like to go home and sleep soon, or right now.

"So?" Aoko prompted.

He stuck his hands into his pockets. "Holmes's freak warned me not to go close to you."

"And as usual, you don't listen to his orders."

"You're right about that."

"Like what I asked previously. What do you want from me?"

He eyed her for a moment before trudging down the empty street, but stopped when she showed no sign in following. He sighed.

"You knew about Konosuke Jii, isn't it?"

She didn't say a word. There really wasn't a difference. He always had a knack of seeing through her lies rather easily sometimes, much to her annoyance.

Kuroba Kaito took out his hands from his pockets and showed it to her, his lips tugged down. "Handcuff me if you're afraid." His voice was heavy and serious. "I just want to bring you to my place to have a talk. Less than a minute."

"Your house." She furrowed her brows. "And that is going to make me feel safer than here?"

"No." He lowered his arms; it couldn't possibly be the ache. "Of course not."

"We can talk here."

"We can't. I need to show you something."

"What?"

"It's at my house."

"Honestly, Kuroba." Aoko wiped a hand over her face, suddenly feeling tired. "That's the crappiest excuse I've ever heard from a murderer trying to lure me to his house and possibly butcher me to pieces."

He gave a wry smile, something that reminded her the old, cocky Kuroba Kaito she knew since a year ago. "Mine couldn't be the crappiest when you're still alive now."

Okay, he had a point. "Tell me what it is first."

"I know you don't trust me, Nakamori. And I don't blame you." Kuroba Kaito glanced away. "But _I_ trust _you_ enough to show you what I want to show." He turned to look at her again, his eyes clear from any kind of hidden intention. Faking it or not, Aoko wasn't sure, but it looked real. Too real for her.

She bit her lips.

"Fine."

.o.

Technically, Aoko was warned not to divulge any information about the case to Kuroba Kaito, which she didn't intend to do. Their meeting was solely because _he_ wanted to show _her_ something, and that wasn't not allowed by the books. It should be fine, and-

 _What the hell?_

Judging by his car and desk, she always thought he was a messy and lazy person. But the house was completely out of her mind, not in a bad way at all. Despite how it was located at the suburban area of the streets and in the middle of other mildly-tattered looking houses, what was inside was brilliant. It was literally the saying of: _Don't judge a book by its cover._

Somehow she wondered if it was applicable for him, as a person too.

He had a fancy TV, nice leather couch, clean kitchen (which she guessed he didn't use it often), nice wallpaper, shiny coffee table... It was like stepping into a grand hotel, where everything was brand new even though the things were most probably re-used a hundred of times. She almost felt too comfortable in his home that it was awkward for her to think about it.

But the main focus wasn't that. The point when her jaws literally dropped and how her mind went totally _What the hell?_ was when Kuroba Kaito picked up a remote and pressed on a certain button, and the wall of the TV flipped, replacing with a large whiteboard instead. It wasn't just any whiteboard either. It looked extremely similar to the one in the headquarters' meeting room, where everyone produced their own ideas and thoughts about the murder. But this one was bigger, with more pictures, more words, and more...

More clear.

"The murderer is Ichiya Sawako." He plucked a photo of a woman in late twenties and showed it to Aoko. "Her father was a volunteer in the third victim's performance a year ago, but he died due to the magician's fault. Fuelled with hatred, she killed the magician and the four other innocent parties because she wanted to cover up and divert the attention away from her father's incident. And at the same time, she was vengeful towards people from the industry too."

Aoko frowned and took a step closer to the wall. "That's-"

"I've said it'll be less than one minute and I've honoured it." He pasted the magnet back over the photo on the whiteboard.

"How do you get the details of the murders?" Her eyes scanned across the whiteboard. It wasn't slip-shot work. There were many things that was surprisingly the same as what she heard and shared with the team, while the rest of the information were ones she didn't know, yet made sense to her in some way or another. Everything was written nicely in great details, to the point she had to force herself to look away just to avoid herself from getting too immense into reading everything. "They are all classified and confidential. From you."

"I've investigated from scratch and got all the information by myself. From everyone and everywhere, but not from the headquarters." He didn't sound proud like how he usually did when he get a new clue. It was that moment when she noticed the dark rings under his eyes.

"Then it couldn't have been accurate." She was only referring to the information that were new to her, but there was no need to tell him that.

"I know what's accurate or not, _Nakamori_."

She glanced at the whiteboard again. "Why are you showing me this?"

"To let you get all the credit. Just another help up the ladder to your promotion, aren't I nice?"

"That's not what you said before." Aoko growled. She could have been accused of anything, but her hard work was not meant to seek for promotion. Still, she decided it was pointless to waste her saliva on him. "You said you trusted me to show this to me. But _why?_ "

"I trust you to be able to memorize every shit I've written here and tell them to Holmes's freak because he refuses to hear me out." He scowled. "Then he'll finally let me back on the team after this is solved because I don't need a week of vacation. He's being a blind dumb ass this time round for some reason and for the record, I've found the murderer faster than him, thrice."

"You have a week of vacation?"

"Can you focus on what I'm saying?"

"I'm not going to blindly submit this report for you." She wasn't a messenger. She's a detective. "I'm going to look into it."

"Why? Are you doubting my investigative skills?"

"No." It was a slip of tongue, but she didn't bother to retract back the truth. "I'm doubting your mental state." She glanced at the whiteboard, her eyes twitched painfully at all the scribbles and words. "The fifth murder happened just yesterday and you've already got so much research on it. Either you're the murderer, or you've worked harder than your body would allow."

"So we're back to square one." His eyes drooped. "You still think I'm the murderer just because I was a suspect of a case similar to this."

"No." She said again, calmly. "It's obvious you haven't slept. I was wondering why Inspector Kudo bothered to give you a week of vacation."

"Try harder with your jokes and I might laugh one day, out of pity."

She ignored his curt comment. "You're trying to find the murderer for your assistant's death. But you've reached a dead end. These cases aren't related to it after all. Konosuke Jii's murder happened five years ago. Ichiya Sawako's father died a year ago, according to you. And she only targeted magicians, not assistant."

"That isn't your business." He muttered. "What I want you to do is to tell him these findings and get it over and done with."

"This isn't a school assignment where you can _get it over and done with_." She gritted her teeth. "I still need to check everything first, which I will do it. Pronto."

He opened his mouth, but thinking again, he dropped whatever he wanted to say. Instead, he finally relaxed his posture, almost as if he had forgotten this was his home. "Sorry, I don't usually have guests. Do you want a drink?"

"It's fine." Aoko gestured to the board. "You should tell me more about this first."

"Right."

When she got a closer look, she noted one of the photo stuck at the corner of the board was a little out of place. It was too late for him to snatch the photo away when she already knew what the picture was. She watched him hide the photo behind his back awkwardly, like a child trying to hide the cookie he stolen from the jar. He looked utterly... pitiful. Her throat turned a little sour.

"Konosuke Jii's a nice man." She didn't know anything personal about him, but she knew it through Kuroba Kaito. There were moments when his annoying grins told her nothing, but his hollow eyes explained everything.

His eyes wavered. "Yeah... He was."

She wasn't confident to do so, but something within her spoke. "I'll find Konosuke Jii's killer too, one way or another."

"It's a cold case that has no new lead and reasons to be reopened." He gave her a sidelong glance. "Besides, I don't need your help."

"I'm not helping you." Her tone didn't match her softened gaze, though this time, he seemed too tired to be observant enough to know.

He would never know the amount of time she spent in the records room, rummaging and searching through papers and papers. He would never know how her hands trembled when she finally found a case file dated eighteen years ago, the name of the victim labelled Kuroba Toichi. He would never know how her lips quivered when she looked through the pictures, and a family of three out of all the bloodied images caught her eyes. He would never know how her tears filled her eyes when she saw the little young boy smiling so innocently into the camera, as if that happy day would never end.

"Care to enlighten me?" Kuroba Kaito rolled his eyes.

He would never, ever know.

.o.

Kaitou Kid.

Eighteen years ago, the famous Phantom Thief that her father had been chasing his entire life disappeared. And it was the exact period when Kuroba Toichi and his wife died. It was a car accident, many would have thought, including their young and innocent son who knew nothing about murder and death. But only the police knew more than that, that there was a bullet stuck in the legendary magician's chest before the car swerved out of control towards the barricade and down the hill.

It was a tragic ending for the talented magician and his wife. But this news was long forgotten when many conspiracy about why the charming Kaitou Kid suddenly disappeared gained more attention than anything else. Even though Aoko could see the truth as clear as day, no one seemed to link Kaitou Kid with Kuroba Toichi's death. She wondered why.

Aoko took her father out for dinner one night. It wasn't just for the case, she missed him a lot and hadn't seen him since weeks. But nonetheless, the dinner and father-daughter chat turned out to be like a fan-meeting about Kaitou Kid, but he didn't mind since the thief was always his favourite topic; He was once the leader of the Kaitou Kid squad after all. Her father was also one of the people who refused to believe Kaitou Kid had died.

He remembered the last heist like it was yesterday. Kaitou Kid was a crafty and brilliant magician, who only stole gems and held the promise of never allowing anyone to get hurt. There were times when the thief would stay to entertain the police a little while, but it stopped when there some men in black started lurking around in his later heists.

Men in black.

She was back in the records room again, not until she was chased out, though this time round not by the supervisor, but by Kudo Shinichi.

They went back to the department and headed into his office. She could sense eyes on her back as she followed Shinichi into his room, but she couldn't care. What she cared about was that Kuroba Kaito's desk was empty. He had returned since a week ago after Ichiya Sawako was captured, but judging by how his newspaper wasn't on his table and he was gone, she guessed he was taking a shit. Which was good, really. Because if he were to see her having a private chat with Shinichi, he would drill her with questions. And she wasn't ready to reply.

"I know I was right about you, Aoko." Shinichi slumped onto his chair. "You're a great asset to the team."

She wasn't fooled by the compliments. There was a hidden meaning behind each and every single word and she knew what it meant. It was necessary for her to write down in the log book about which section of the records room she had went into, and Shinichi probably realized she was in some places she shouldn't be in. She didn't bother beating around the bush.

"Kaito deserves to know." She stopped for a second, surprised that she had used his first name, but Shinichi didn't seem to notice.

"Of course he does, just not now." He tapped a finger on his desk. "The lesser the people who are involved, the better."

"I know about those men in black." She saw how he stiffened at the last three words, but she pretended not to see. She realized she had been doing a lot of pretending recently.

"Not enough for them to hunt you down." His voice stern. "And you shall keep it that way."

"Konosuke Jii. Kuroba Toichi. Kuroba Chikage." Aoko pursed her lips. They were people she had never met before, but when their names left her mouth, it gave her a weird tingling sensation in her chest. "Were their deaths related to the men in black?"

Silence.

She was getting more confuse than curious. "If you don't want me to meddle, why did you give me Konosuke Jii's file when it was completely unrelated to the recent magicians' murders?"

"I know Kaito would ignore my orders and find you to get information about those murders." Shinichi sighed. "So I thought I'll do a reverse method. Make you wary of him instead. Turns out this was the only thing I'm wrong about you. And you ended up exceeding my expectations."

"But that doesn't mean he had to be taken out of the team."

"He believed that the murderer was the same as Konosuke Jii's." Shinichi said heavily. "I don't want him to distract the team for his own purpose."

Aoko understood what he meant. Kaito had his perks to make everyone lively when they were down and depressed, and he had the looks and rude humour to go with his shitty personality to make the members on the team to like and listen to him and his opinions. She was one of them, though she obeyed his instructions only because she always thought his way of thinking was smart and reasonable. No other reason.

She had no words to retort back. What Shinichi said was definitely true.

"I will never regret adding you to my team." He stared sincerely at her. She would have been embarrassed if she wasn't taking the conversation between them as serious as she could. "But please don't make me regret that one choice of giving you Konosuke Jii's file. I really don't want to lose a member, not in a way that is irrevocable." Shinichi sounded extremely exhausted all of the sudden.

She pressed her lips into a thin line. She was so close in uncovering everything, so close to helping the little boy named Kuroba Kaito find out the truth. But her thoughts ended there and she slouched, her eyes cast down.

The little chat was over and she was forced to promise to not go back to the records room without authorized reasons. She walked out of the door, deflated, but her mood changed instantly at the first sight she saw. Kaito was animatedly pointing at his newspaper with two colleagues standing behind his back, three of them were laughing hysterically in the middle of the office. Probably those usual dirty jokes they shared.

Maybe it would be better like this; She just had to keep on pretending. This would also help to make his job in putting up a bright facade in front of everyone a lot more easier too.


	3. Nakamori Aoko

Circle of Fate

3: Nakamori Aoko

* * *

Aoko blinked and felt as if someone poured cement over her eyelids. Alright, it wasn't that exaggerating, but it was similarly uncomfortable.

"Stop moving."

"Sorry." She mumbled and stayed completely still again.

Operation #68: Attract the attention of a suspected serial killer.

It sounded awfully dangerous and scary, but Aoko had been trained enough as the bait to know this was an easy feat. It was simply reciting the script of what the suspected serial killer would like to hear, and act and say accordingly to the instructions that would be given to her in her hidden Bluetooth. Besides, her colleagues would be watching her and ensuring her safety, and she once watched her colleagues being the bait too. In fact, this was considered a safer kind of operation, rather than having to deal with armed criminals with hostages or entering the lair of a murderer. At least the person she was luring was just a suspect.

The problematic word was _Attract_.

So here she was in the dressing room with one of the female member of the forensic team helping her with the make-up. Sherry, if Aoko remembered correctly, was her name. The blonde was always quiet and carried a scary and intimidating aura, but Shinichi told her she was like this to everyone, as if his comment would help to lessen the awkwardness between them.

"Part your lips." She muttered.

For the past half an hour, Aoko had been obediently following her instructions; _Tilt your head. Close your eyes. Look up, a_ nd she had no idea why she was doing it for. She occasionally used make-up, but it wasn't exactly her forte, and that was exactly why Shinichi called Sherry in to help. He could have given up on her and asked other female members on the team to do the seducing and Aoko wouldn't be in the least offended because she didn't really want to do a role like this either, but she was the only one who had long brown hair, bright blue eyes, pale smooth skin and the right size for the role of the woman that the serial killer was targeting.

"Done."

Aoko blinked.

Sherry pointed at the large wall mirror behind them. "Take a look."

She turned her head and stared at Sherry in the reflection before gaping at a person she didn't recognize. _Who is that girl? Wait, that's me...?!_

The blonde frowned. "You don't like it?"

"No-! Uh." She gulped. "I... I can't believe that's me. I look different."

"In a good way." Sherry stood up and packed her make-up bag. "Tell that man my job is done. And remind him that he owes me a Fusae handbag."

"Fu-Fusae?" Aoko nearly choked. She wasn't keen in branded materials, but she sure heard of the famous Fusae brand before. They produced nice designs, and the price was... just... as nice.

"Yes." The blonde gave a small smile before leaving her alone in the dressing room. Aoko was sure the smile wasn't directed to her, but perhaps at the imagination of having the handbag hooked around her arm.

Because her wardrobe was filled with almost nothing but jeans and dresses that were a little childish for the mission, her clothes and shoes were borrowed from someone named... Mouri Ran. She wasn't sure if she heard that name correct when Shinichi was mumbling a little awkwardly when he gave her the clothes. The dress was elegant, and the perfect size for her. Same for the heels. She wondered how did Mouri Ran look when she wore these clothes. Prettier, she supposed. She wasn't surprise if Shinichi knew many pretty girls.

She stood up and turned around in the mirror and gave herself a nod. Too much time had passed and the guy members waiting outside for her should be fed up by now, especially Kaito.

Her feet ached the moment she took a step. Ugh.

After several tries, she finally wobbled her way out of the dressing room to turn towards the corridor. Soft laughter and mutters could be heard from a distance, but the clacking of her heels was louder. Shinichi, Sakamoto, Takashi and Kaito turned to her direction when they heard her obvious footsteps approaching

She hid a strand of loose hair behind her ear and gave the stiffest smile she ever shown in her life. It was just make-up, yet she felt as if her face was painted with gold. She still wasn't familiar to the feeling of mascara on her eyelashes, and at the same time, she didn't want to make too much face movement, in fear of ruining the precious effort and time spent on her make-up.

But it wasn't just her smile that was stiff. She stared incredulously at the four men in the corridor who were looking tensely at her.

Wait. Was there something wrong with her face-?

"Here. Inspector Kudo." Sakamoto and Takashi handed a bill over to Shinichi as the latter chuckled and accepted the money, though the three pairs of eyes were still fixated on her. It was the same for Kaito, but his eyes and plain expression was the only one she couldn't read.

Aoko continued her way down the corridor with careful steps, but not careful enough as she tripped onto nothing and fell to her side. She attempted to clutch onto a wall for support, but something caught her instead. Apologies began spilling out her lips until she stopped when she raised her head to see Kaito smirking down on her.

"Regretted that you've fallen on your left, Nakamori?" His hand was still around her arm as he leaned a little towards her ear. She could hear him breathing. "Should have fallen on your right, into the arms of our lovely boss. How great would that be?"

She scowled and pushed him away, at the same time to help her steady her feet. "Don't say stupid things." She gritted her teeth. To think that she once helped him behind his back because she thought he deserved it, but she ended up receiving strict supervision from Shinichi... Was all even worth it?! She swallowed hard, controlling her nerves.

He scoffed, not once blinking at her rage. "I'm getting the car now."

"Oh Aoko-chan." Sakamoto chirped, his voice surprisingly bright all of the sudden. "Do you want to sit in my car?"

"How about mine?" Takashi smiled.

"Erm." She glanced at Kaito who was looking at her, his poker face intact and waiting for her answer too. It was only after a while then she realized he was actually giving her a _choice_. Usually he would just drag her around like his pet dog without a care if she wanted to follow or not.

Everyone was acting so weird today.

But as stupid as it sounded, she was as loyal as a pet dog too.

"I'll sit in Inspector Kuroba's car." _Like usual._

Kaito turned away again and began walking towards the lift to the car park, while the other two members looked down in disappointment.

Shinichi cleared his throat. "What are you waiting for? Get the others and set off now."

"Yes Inspector Kudo!" They sped off to their task.

Aoko glanced down at her heels and sighed. It would be a long way down the lobby. At least it would be some good training.

"He's not that bad."

She lifted her head, eyes staring curiously at Shinichi. Was she dreaming or did she really hear something? "What?"

"Though I can't blame you for having a bad impression on him, I felt there's a need for me to explain that he isn't as bad as you think."

"You mean Inspector Kuroba?"

"Yes."

Kaito had probably said that previous comment soft enough for only her to hear, or there was no way Shinichi could be so kind to defend him right now. Simply outrageous. "Really?" She couldn't hide the sarcasm in her tone. It was a little late to redo the mistake of being rude, but Shinichi didn't seem to mind.

He shook his head, mildly embarrassed about what he had to say next. "I didn't want to tell you this but the guys bet on you a little while ago."

"Bet? On me?"

"One of them; and I don't think I should say who, said this mission was impossible." He frowned a little. "As quoted: _You can't draw lines on a pumpkin and call it a watermelon._ "

 _Ouch..._ She heard nasty things in her high school about her chest before... but this was something new. She had a feeling that _someone_ was actually Kaito.

"And guess what Kaito said?"

"Eh?" She raised an eyebrow. "I was actually thinking whether if that line was said by Kaito." Ah, a slip of tongue again. She had never said his first name in front of Kaito before, and she had to make sure it stayed that way. She didn't want to risk any awkwardness. They weren't exactly... friends...?

Shinichi blinked. "Oh, no. It wasn't said by him."

Aoko slouched and lowered her gaze. It didn't help her to feel better since it meant that someone else on the team also thought she was an ugly duckling. Did she look _that_ bad? "I wouldn't want to guess what he said. Probably something even more mean."

"No." He smiled faintly. "As quoted: _She's not a pumpkin. She's a watermelon with faint lines on it. Just need some time and it'll show_."

She glanced up at Shinichi sharply, unable to breathe. There was no way in hell the Kaito she knew and worked with for so long to _ever_ say those words. There was nothing for him to gain. He wasn't even in the bet, from what she saw previously since he wasn't involved in giving or taking any money. "Are you serious?"

"He always keeps his good side well hidden, but it's there."

There was no reason for Shinichi to lie, but then again, he once tricked her with Konosuke Jii's case just because he didn't want her to reveal information to Kaito. She simply shrugged. There was nothing for her to comment anyway. Assuming the conversation was over, she silently headed towards the lobby.

.o.

One thing Aoko was very horrible at was lying, though it wasn't as if she liked lying anyway, so it didn't make much of a difference to her life. But being a detective, there were times when lying was an essential thing to do to achieve something like important information, for the greater good. Or when she had no other choice.

It still didn't change the fact that her lying skills needed improvement.

"Have a drink."

A glass of cocktail lifted to her face before someone took her hand to take the glass on her own. She blinked at the drink and looked to her side, her sharp eyes noticing the bright golden pin on the suit's pocket before looking up at the tall and smart-looking man, who was leaning against the bar counter with a grin on his lips.

Aoko rarely drank unless she needed to knock herself in bed for the whole night, which was rare since her job was never a nine-to-five kind of thing. She could be called up at two in the morning and was expected to be at the other side of the city _as fast as possible_ , which equivalent to half an hour, according to her knowledge and understanding after working under Shinichi for so long.

But that wasn't the only reason why she couldn't drink. She was currently on duty. It was another undercover mission, though she wasn't the star of the day. After going through several means, the team managed to slip into tonight's ball event to keep an eye on the host, which was the _Target_ everyone was tasked to spy on.

She placed the glass down on the counter and mustered a polite smile. She would have walked away if she had the choice, but once she spotted the golden pin, she couldn't. The pin represented the people as the VIP, which meant this man was perhaps a close relative or friend to the _Target_ her team was going undercover for right now. It would be too risky if he got displeased and got more unnecessary attention on her.

Ever since that _stunning baiting_ incident when Sherry did a complete make-over for her, her female colleagues urged her to use make-up more often, to which all the men on the team agreed rather enthusiastically too (Except for Kaito. He was still annoyed about how her fluttering eyelashes distracted him during investigations). She tried to put on her own make-up for this operation this time round, just for the sake of it. Though she didn't look as fancy as before, the fact that a handsome looking man was attempting to do something to her meant that her skills were improving. That was why when she said; "Sorry. I don't feel well," she realized how dumb her lie was since the blusher she used on herself definitely made her cheeks healthy pink.

"A drink a day keeps all troubles away." He pushed the cup towards her again. "Come on, I specially made this for you. A fine lady like you deserve this honour."

 _I don't care._ "I'm allergic to alcohol." What a pathetic attempt. If only she had a script or something, it would've been better. She noticed the man's smile faltered and he didn't seem as kind as he originally looked anymore.

"You'll be fine." The man slowly wrapped his hand around her waist. "I'll be here if you need any CPR."

She trembled at his touch and stepped away, a dangerous forced smile plastered on her face. She was _so close_ in wanting to give a punch right into the man's nose when a voice appeared behind her, breaking her thoughts.

"Will you like to have a dance with me?"

Her head spun to the direction to her saviour of the day, but she blinked in surprise when she realized who it was. Kaito was standing equally as smart as the other man, his palm facing her.

Even if Kaito was infuriating sometimes, it would be better to hang out with him rather than this perverted man. She accepted his hand a little too desperately, as if it wasn't obvious enough that she wanted to leave the scene terribly. "Sure."

Kaito lead her away, his thumb caressing her fingers like it was made of soft silk. She gave the last glance she could afford to the man before they headed to the dance floor. The music was loud and catchy, perfect for a Cha-Cha dance. Even though the song was already halfway through, there was enough space for them to join in.

When she realized Kaito wasn't joking, she followed his stride and whispered harshly into his ears. "We're on duty."

"Yes we are. And that guy is still looking at you. He's the Target's younger brother by the way." He flicked his gaze over her shoulder before looking back at her with his usual lazy eyes. "If you're not going to dance with me like you said you would, he'll suspect something. And you'll _blow_ our cover."

She was about to turn her head to check if what he said was true when he moved a hand to her back and pulled her towards him, his suit rubbing against her chest. She couldn't help and flush at the sudden contact, but he gave her no time to regain her composure. He took her hand, taking charge and spun her around until she was breathless, _and_ laughing. She knew several things about Kaito. About how his favourite drink was the coffee from the headquarters's vending machine, how he was surprisingly tender towards old men, how he unconsciously pulled a few tricks from his sleeves even though he once told her when she was in his sanctuary that he was never touching magic again. And now she learnt something new about him again. He was actually pretty good at dancing.

Would it be insane for her to admit that she was disappointed when the music stopped?

But Kaito showed no sign of moving to the edge of the dance floor. He was still holding her hand and waist, waiting silently until the next song came, and for some unknown reason, she waited too. It was a slow song this time round, a drastic change to the previous one.

 _"Someone's enjoying the party a little too much, aye?"_

Her eyes widened when the voice crackled from the hidden Bluetooth inside her ear. She blushed again, recognizing the voice as one of her colleagues who was also working undercover. She growled at Kaito's cheeky smile and was about to push him away when he tightened his grip around her body, but it wasn't enough to hurt her. He was too strong for her to be able to put any space between them.

"I think that guy is really interested in you. He's still looking."

"Not just him. Everyone in the workforce too!" She gritted her teeth, the heat behind her neck was still rising to her cheeks. "I'll hide in the bathroom for a while and he'll leave me alone."

"I don't think so." He brushed a finger past his ear, but she knew it was to activate the Bluetooth. "There's a sly fox preying on our little rabbit here. Can't let him do that."

 _R-Rabbit-?!_

 _"Then we'll leave it to you to protect the rabbit. But I hope you two will react fast when required to."_

She closed her eyes and gave a soft groan. _Oh Lord. It's Inspector Kudo's voice..._

"We've got the permission to enjoy the party now."

Aoko widened her eyes before she snapped with fury. "Per-permission? Are you lying that the guy is still there so you can have fun?" She was about to turn her head again when he leaned towards her, giving her no chance to move her head if she didn't want her face to touch his.

"I'm not lying."

"Then let me check."

"If you do, he'll think you're interested in him. And that you're trying to make him jealous."

"That's silly, _and_ far-fetch. I have no intentions to do that."

"Clearly you don't. And clearly, you don't understand how men think."

"Then can you _clearly_ tell me how is this going to make the situation better?"

"After this one minute, I bet he'll be gone."

She felt his breath on her neck, his heart beating much slower than hers, his warm hands on her skin through the thin material of her blue dress. His chest closely pressed against hers and his hips moved along with her, in time to the gentle music whispering in the air. The soothing music and slow dance helped to let the anger and embarrassment within her to die down. He was half a head taller than her, so when she was looking directly in front, her attention was forced to focus on his lips. She instantly leaned away when she realized she was beginning to stare, at the same time, hoping to disrupt her own unnecessary thoughts that just lingered in her head.

But as soon as she moved back, she glanced up, to find him gazing straight into her eyes, and it was somehow more intimate than anything else she had ever seen. Unlike his lips, she couldn't look away this time, until he did and she took a few moments to find her voice.

"Your hands. Off. My. Butt."

"Impressive, Nakamori. Fifty-seven seconds."

"And you're still not taking your hands off."

"I thought I was holding onto your waist. Didn't know it was your ass." He let go of her and stepped back. "You can't blame me when your back is as flat as the ironing board."

"You-!" She gulped down the words she was about to scream when she realized the soft song wasn't loud enough to hide her shouts, and that it was coming to an end soon too. As couples took the slight pause of music to step in and out of the dance floor, she decided to focus on what was important and turned to look back at the counter she was previously standing. Indeed, the man was no longer there.

"Like what I've said; He's gone."

"That guy may have already left when you took me to the dance floor." She scowled back at him.

"Even if he did, you still enjoyed the dance, didn't you?" He tilted his head, almost innocent.

It was back to the main lesson of the day; she needed to learn how to lie soon.

Right on time, a voice sounded from the Bluetooth, perfectly disrupting the moment.

 _"Target is leaving the ballroom. Everyone out."_

They didn't need to say anything else before they sprinted towards the door, both of them finally having a common interest in mind.

.o.

There were only three places Aoko knew Kaito would be in the entire headquarter most of the time; the vending machine, the toilet, or his own desk. But he wasn't anywhere in those three places. Of course she didn't check the male's toilet, but since the newspaper was still on his desk, it meant he wasn't in there.

Aoko wasn't his superior or mother who would do spot checks on him to know his whereabouts. In fact, she should actually be happy that he wasn't around to frustrate her. But there was this disturbing feeling in the pit of her stomach that had been annoying her since all afternoon ever since she realized he was missing. This uneasiness and discomfort...

After much contemplation, she decided to call him. No answer. Call again. No answer. Call again-

His phone was switched off.

It was too obvious that she was right about her guts' feeling. Kaito never switched off his phone.

The team was yet again placed in charge of another serial killing that had occurred within the past two months (It was scary how there were so many murders happening recently), and Kaito and her was to take care of the Southern district of Tokyo, where two out of five of the murders happened. They were on the right track, and she could tell they were getting close to the end of the mystery soon. And as proud yet embarrassing as she could be, this would be the second time she broke the case without Shinichi's guidance and lead, and the fifth time for Kaito (Since he kept track of the record, she thought it would be fun to keep one for herself too).

But that wasn't important. What was important was that Kaito didn't look quite himself the last time she saw him when he jumped up from his desk and told her there was no need to follow him before dashing out. It happened around noon, but when she came back from her lunch, the desk looked exactly the same as she saw before she left for the cafeteria. It was already close to three in the afternoon now.

No one seemed bothered, or rather, no one had the time to care about Kaito's act of disappearance when they were busy trying to investigate the serial killer. Having no choice, she began looking for clues on her own, and the first place she looked was his desk.

She went and sat on his roller chair, trying to resist the urge to take a spin. She took the precious chance and look around the office from his perspective until she set her eyes on her own desk, realizing that Kaito had a very good view of her computer screen. Her privacy was literally gone. She made a mental note to shift her table when she had the time. Now it was work.

His newspaper was crumpled in a corner. His stationary holder was filled with pens and pencils and squashed sweets wrapper in between of the spaces. She rolled her eyes in disgust, her attention trailing around the corners of the desk until she stared at a notepad. There was a little bit of paper left near the spine of the pad, indicating someone had torn a paper from it, obviously.

He must have written something down, tore the top sheet of paper from the note pad and ran out of the office like what she last saw him did. He must have gotten something important, knew something important and left her all out. How could he just dump her in the office while he was out in the field and doing what they should be doing _together_? Weren't they...

She flushed.

Partners?

 _Now's not the time to think about stupid things._ She chided herself and focused on the notepad again. Since Kaito had taken the top piece of paper away, she would have to look at the next sheet down. She grabbed a pencil and ran the lead lightly over the page, white lines appeared among the grey, as if she knew some magic herself too. Bingo. It was such an old-school method, but it worked, and that was all that mattered. She recognized his handwriting in an instant.

She peered at the notepad closely. His writing was unusually messy, like he was in an extreme rush. What he wrote was an address.

There wasn't a need for her to think. She grabbed her bag and skipped out of the office and to the road, waving for a cab. Darn that idiot for leaving her behind, and herself for not owning a car of her own.

It was a smooth traffic for a late afternoon ride and she reached the stated address within ten minutes. She paid a hefty amount of money and couldn't wait for the driver to return her the change and jumped out of the car frantically. The faster she ran, the heavier her heart was.

 _What is this feeling?!_

Her eyes darted across the houses closely lining up together and she clicked her tongue before looking down at the paper that was wrinkled under her grasp. _Block twelve... Block twelve..._

At the same moment when she was concentrating on the numbers, a man suddenly whipped past her and knocked against her arm, the paper flew out of her hand and whirled along with the passing wind. She gave a loud shout at the man, but he was already far down the street for him to hear. But even though he was that far, she could still see...

... Blood on the man's shirt and pants.

She felt her heart plunged to the sole of her foot.

No.

Her head spun back to the direction of a house where her sidelong glance spotted the man running out from and realized it was the address she was looking for in the paper. _Block twelve._ It was just a distance away from her, and the door was left ajar. She stayed still for a second, because if Kaito happened to be inside, she knew he would never give up. She knew he would burst through the door and yell out those beautiful curses as he ran after that man. She knew he would be out the next second. And the next second passed, and so did the next second, but the door didn't open wide. It looked exactly the same.

 _No._

She glanced down the road, the man already disappeared; it was too late for her to chase after him. She clenched her fist and scurried towards the door and whipped it open. It was the basic rule to be prepared and stay as calm as possible to prevent any chance of an ambush, but she honestly couldn't care. Once she rushed into the dark and empty house, her eyes practically flew into all direction, searching for something. Kaito. Body. Blood.

Kaito was lying on the ground just before the door, her own shadow casted over his body. She gasped out loud and slid across the floor to his side and lifted half of his body onto her lap, shaking him.

"Inspector Kuroba!"

Kaito, checked. Body, checked. Blood...

She felt something wet on his stomach when she tried to lift him up.

Blood, checked.

"Inspector Kuroba!" She exclaimed, her throat tightened as she grabbed onto his hand, squeezing it in hopes to get any kind of reaction back.

He slowly peeled open his eyes, his blurry blue eyes staring at her. After a long while, he squeezed her hand back and spoke.

"Oh, you're here."

"What do you mean o _h, you're here_?!" She growled before her voice cracked into concerned whimpers. "Yo-You're injured!"

"I'm fine." He said, still groggy. "Just a little slash in the stomach, not a-a stab. Won't kill me."

"Have you not been to enough crime scenes to know that you can _bleed_ to death? What if I didn't care that you're missing? What if I'm not _here_?"

He looked like he wanted to say something, but she turned away from him, refusing to acknowledge that he was using the little strength he had left in him to talk to her. Her trembling fingers reached out for her phone as she dialled the ambulance. As calm as she could, she told the address as accurate as she could remember on the paper before she cut the call and all her attention was back onto him. His chest was heaving, eyelids fluttering and although her thighs were breaking from his weight, she couldn't bear to let go of him. She could have wept over him if she hadn't been so annoyed that he had get himself into so much trouble in the first place. Why was he even here? Where was this place? Who was that man? She closed her eyes, trying to tattoo the face of the man in her face into her brain before she forgot. She swore she would hunt that man down.

"He's-" Kaito winced. "He's Sakamoto's brother."

"W-What?" She almost choked.

"I-I somehow knew it was him... The serial killer. But I thought it must be a mistake. That's why I came here myself. To check." He managed a smile. "I didn't mean to leave you out. I don't want to complicate things. Don't be angry."

"I'm not angry."

"You are angry."

"I'm not angry-!" She bit her lips. Even in his circumstances, it was terrifying he could read her like a children book. She hated it when he always thought he could analysis her like some criminal, even though he was always right. She hated it when he was right. "Just shut up. Don't aggravate your injuries anymore. We'll talk about the case later, after you're fine."

On the cue, she could hear the soft siren of the ambulance from a distance. She turned her head to the door, making sure the ambulance wouldn't pass the house, and thankfully they didn't. Two paramedics brought a stretcher in as soon as they alighted from the back of the ambulance. As professionally as they were, they lifted Kaito onto the stretcher, ready to go.

He was still holding onto her hand. She was still holding onto his hand. It worked either way.

"There's no room in the ambulance." One of the paramedics said.

Aoko understood and let go of his hand.

"Hey." Kaito said, his voice suddenly shaky. "Aoko. Don't go."

"I'll see you in the hospital. I'll fly if I need to."

He afforded a weak smile. "You better."

She watched them wheel him into the waiting ambulance and took out her phone. Her hand was bloodied, but that didn't mean she should put off telling this necessary report back to Shinichi. She put the phone to her ear and let the dialling tune ring, drowning the sound of the ambulance as it drove away.

 _"Aoko?"_

"Inspector Kudo." Her lips quivered.

 _"Is something wrong? You aren't in the office. Kaito too."_

"Kaito." She pressed a hand over her eyes. "Kaito... He... He called me Aoko. He never calls me Aoko before."

She didn't talk about Sakamoto's brother, and how Kaito was on his way to the hospital. She didn't even say anything else. To her eternal shame, she simply burst into tears.


	4. Aoko

Circle of Fate

4: Aoko

* * *

It was hard for Aoko to relay the news about Kaito's hospitalization, and it didn't take her long enough to finally understand what he meant when he said he didn't want to complicate things; she really didn't have the heart to break the news about Sakamoto's brother's action too, but everything soon fell into place on its own and after nearly two days had passed, Shinichi and the team managed to find Sakamoto's brother and prosecuted him, much to everyone's gloom.

As much as Aoko wished to change out from her creased blouse and her slightly blood-stained jeans, the first thing after she was finally freed from her work was to get herself into the cab that she almost started a fight for and made her way to the hospital.

She didn't buy flowers, or fruits, or soft toys (as a joke) because she didn't know what kinds were his likes or dislikes, but she knew he liked coffee from the vending machine, though it wouldn't be a good idea for his healing process. So being empty-handed, she expected Kaito to be displeased or complained about it, but when she stepped into his ward, he turned his head so fast to the door that she thought it might snap, and the first thing he welcomed her was his healthy smile instead. She had to use all muscle within her to resist the urge to smile back.

"Hey." She greeted.

"You look worse than I do." He positioned his sitting posture a little better before looking her up and down. "Did you run around the world or something? Took you long enough to come here too."

It was true. Her attire was shit. Her hair was shit. Everything about her was shit. She was at the worst state ever, as if she planned to be like this just because she was visiting Kaito, since he was definitely the last on the list of people she ever wanted to impress. She approached towards him and perched on the edge of his bed. He didn't seem to mind.

"I had to report back to Inspector Kudo about the incident." Aoko said. She wondered if he noticed she was still wearing the attire since the day she found him. Now that she realized, she awkwardly shifted in her position, suddenly conscious that she must have smelt bad too. She really should have had at least a shower first. What was the hurry to come here anyway? "I was tasked to be with the search party to find Sakamoto's brother. I didn't have time to-"

"It's just a joke. You don't have to be so serious, Nakamori." He smirked. "There's plenty of pretty nurses here to entertain me."

(He was back to the family name, not like it surprised her. She told herself after a while that it must be a slip of his tongue since he was in the moment of shock with his wound and such. She really shouldn't think too much about it, and definitely shouldn't have _cried_ about it. Oh God, that memory. She didn't even know why the hell she cried)

Aoko rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore his remarks just because he was already an idiot to begin with. A reckless yet kind idiot, something she wouldn't admit in a million years. Instead of the usual insults she cursed in her head, she muttered something much less offensive, although it was what she truly wished she had done. "I should have went home."

"You _should_ have went home. And how long has it been since you've talked to your father?"

How long had it been? Definitely not this week. Now that he said it, she missed her father terribly all of the sudden. Her father once came to visit her department one afternoon to check on her well-being. And since Shinichi wasn't around, Kaito took the chance to act like he was the in-charge and talked _all_ about her with her father. For some reason, they hit off pretty well and it was utterly embarrassing to even think about it.

But now that it occurred to her for the first time, he probably missed his own father. It was awful that he had lost him at such a young age, and he should have deserved the amount of love like every child had as they grew up. Another tiny bit of her dislike towards Kaito crumbled and fell away, much to her own surprise.

"You could've at least called him sometimes."

She hadn't even said her answer and he had deduced it like some kindergarten question. She put up her defensive mode and crossed her arm with a slight frown. This was the best she could do to stop him from reading her mind. "Not like I can help it with how busy I am recently. I'm going to call him once I'm home." She said.

"Good."

"How your injury?"

"Not going to die."

"You could have." She muttered.

"Tell me again when I do"

Aoko rolled her eyes. "Anyway, did Sakamoto come to see you?"

"He came after I've finished my testimonial statement." Kaito gestured to a fruit basket by his bed. "He left around an hour ago."

"He's off from the team for the time being."

"Yeah. He told me."

His face was as calm as always, but she noticed how his shoulders slacked like there was an invisible weight on it. She recognized the signs. He was thinking, and it wasn't something positive. She sighed silently to herself. After all the times when their lives had been in the palm of each other's hands, she wished he could put aside the act of superiority and open himself up a little to her. When she was lucky, her questions about his well-beings would be answered, even though vaguely. And when she was not, which was actually most of the time, she would be brushed off with his brilliant curt sarcasm that made herself swore that she would never bother to care about him anymore (that was a lie).

She decided to try her luck today.

"What's wrong?"

Kaito glanced up at her with careful blue eyes. It took him a while to speak, but she gave him all the time in the world.

"If I've handled the situation better," he lowered his gaze, "maybe it wouldn't have been so bad."

He couldn't have cared less about his injury; she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't talking about it.

"It's not your fault. Besides, he'd committed five murders. I don't think the sentence could go any better with or without your incident."

"I know. But it's not just about the sentence." He muttered. "I've never seen Sakamoto being so apologetic before. He wasn't himself at all."

She bit her lips, wondering if she shouldn't have asked something she wasn't sure she could answer back. Now what? Pat his shoulder? Give comforting words? She was sure Kaito wanted neither of that, and that were the only things Aoko knew how to do. She curled her hands into a fist, still trying to think of what to do, but to no avail.

The silence didn't last long when the door slid open and they turned to the new visitor. Shinichi walked in, with a bag of fruits in one hand and a bouquet of flowers arrangement in another.

"Oh, Aoko? You came faster than me."

She was almost afraid Kaito would think (although it was true) about how desperate she was to visit him and she was about to comment and cook up some pathetic lie when he frowned at the flowers in Shinichi's hand.

"No flowers please. It makes me look gay or dead."

"I think it takes more than a couple of flowers to change your sexual orientation." Shinichi gave a withering look as he placed his gifts on the bedside desk. "Though I'm pretty sure these flowers would come sooner or later if you're going to disobey my orders and act on your own recklessly every time."

 _Well said._ Aoko smiled.

"Whatever." Kaito arranged the fruit basket so there were space for the other fruits and took the flowers. He leaned towards Aoko and dumped the bouquet onto her hands. She blinked and stared incredulously at him before looking back at the flowers.

"These flowers are meant for you to get well soon."

"Besides getting well, carnation also represents good luck, roses and tulips also represent love. I think it fits you. You need luck for your lack-of-love life."

She closed her eyes, praying for patience.

"Aoko, you should go home and have some rest." Shinichi said. "I want to talk to him in private too."

"Oh come on, if it's about disciplinary issue again, save it. I can recite it for you already."

"I'll say it until you follow it."

It was definitely a conversation she wouldn't enjoy; she had been through _one_ enough to know. She hugged the flowers closer to her chest, smelling the freshness of it before heading out quietly as their bickering started.

She headed towards the lift, her eyes drooping and ready to close any moment. She was sure she didn't need any alcohol to knock herself for the rest of the night, but she did promise to herself (and Kaito) that she would call her father once she reached home, and she would do just that before anything else.

From a distance as she was still walking towards the lobby, she saw the lift door opened. Not wanting to wait for the next one, she attempted to dash inside, only to realize there was someone coming out. But it was too late as they collided into each other, the flowers she carried fell out of her hands, some petals scattered around due to the impact.

"Are you-

 _-fucking kidding me?"_

-alright?"

Aoko blinked, the sense of Deja Vu hitting her like a truck. She glanced up from the mess on the ground and stared at the tall, smart-looking blonde with the brightest amber eyes she had ever saw. She blinked again, until she realized she had yet to apologize.

"I'm so sorry."

"I should be. Your flowers are ruined." He picked up the bouquet from the floor and passed it over to her. "But are you alright?" He asked again with a small smile.

"Y-Yeah. I am."

The lift door had already closed behind the man and descended down to the next floor, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Anyway, I'm Hakuba Saguru. A pleasure to meet you."

"Nakamori Aoko. Nice to meet you too." She tried her best to forget about how horrible she was looking right now. There was nothing for him to be pleasure about meeting her. She tried her best to ignore that self-destructive thought.

"Nakamori Aoko..." His smile remained on his lips. "I'm truly sorry about the flowers. I'll repay it one day."

"Oh, it's fine-"

Hakuba suddenly looked down at his watch and clicked his tongue. "Two minutes and three seconds. I'm sorry again. I have an appointment so I have to leave first."

"Sure. Sorry that I've kept you waiting." She moved aside and watched him leave in a hurry, not before the soft clacking echo of his footsteps were gone.

Aoko stared down at the flowers in her hands.

 _"Besides getting well, carnation also represents good luck, roses and tulips also represent love. I think it fits you. You need luck for your lack-of-love life."_

Kaito was an asshole, but he never lies about his wisdom. She wondered if this time round, his words were really that true too.

.o.

It was currently lunch break, the perfect time for Aoko to enjoy the only hour she could have to herself without any worries. However, that wasn't applied for people working in the police headquarters.

Today was Kaito and her turn to stay in the office and wait for any emergency calls. She had no idea since when Shinichi and the rest started pairing them and always making them do things together when detective work could be done individually. Aoko wouldn't mind if he wasn't such a noisy jerk, but on the bright side, she had someone for company, even if the person might not be the best choice.

As she was in the middle of finishing her report while waiting for her colleague to buy her packed lunch back, she heard the sound of the glass door swung across the carpet. It wasn't just her that wondered who could have been so hardworking and came back to the office so early. Kaito had looked up from his newspaper too to satisfy his curiosity.

Both of their reactions, however, were as different as heaven and earth.

"Hello Nakamori-san."

"H-Hakuba-kun...? What are you doing here?"

She stood up from her seat and dumbly approached towards the handsome blonde as he snaked his way past the empty desks with a smile. Before she could say a word, he whipped out a bouquet of flowers and presented to her.

"Here's the flowers as repayment from before." He said, a smile brightening up his face. "I can't remember the arrangement, but I'm sure the flowers were the same."

He was right. Carnations, tulips, and roses. She remembered these three flowers ever since Kaito had told her about her needing luck for her miserable love life. It was weird how his little comments or words always gave such an impact on her, even if he probably didn't remember it anymore. Her trembling hands wrapped around the flowers as she stared at Hakuba, trying to find words to speak. "I... um-"

"And here's another bouquet of flowers, personally from me to you." He took out a bouquet of roses bundled with violet wrap papers from behind his back again.

The beauty of the roses made her almost unable to breathe. "I-I can't accept this." She glanced up at him, making sure both of his hands were in her sight. She really didn't want another bouquet of flowers popping out from nowhere.

"Of course you can, a beautiful lady like you deserves the best." He handed the flowers to her, both bouquet lying on both on her arms, as if she was carrying two babies.

It was then a file began swiping up and down between Hakuba and her before Kaito squeezed inside the tiny space. She had to step back or his body would be pressing against hers.

"Saguru Hakuba." He sneered, his back facing her. "What does the Interpol wants from the homicide division?"

"Kuroba Kaito. It's been long. Nice to see that you're still alive, _and_ well."

 _Uhhh... What is going on?_

"Hakuba?" A voice suddenly came from the other end of the office. Shinichi was by his door, with a raised eyebrow as he began approaching towards the three of them. "To what pleasure do I _owe_ for your visit?"

 _Wait. What?! How does everyone know each other?_

"This lady here owes the pleasure." Hakuba turned towards Aoko and gave a sheepish smile. "I've heard of your name before and knew you're from Kudo's squad, that's why I know where to find you, please don't mistaken me for a stalker. It seems luck is on my side for me to meet you even though it's lunch period."

After the explanation, Aoko was still lost.

As Shinichi managed to get Hakuba's attention and they got into some kind of deep and political conversation, Aoko took the chance and placed the two bouquets onto her desk and admired them for a long while. It had been years since she received flowers and it shouldn't be wrong for her to feel happy. The ones Kaito gave to her was pretty, but it didn't count since she was simply a convenient trash collector and she made it easy for him to dispose the flowers he didn't want. Now that she remembered about that asshole's existence and noticed how quiet he was, she turned towards the said man, who was staring at her with an obvious, judging look.

"What?" She muttered.

"Not _seeking_ for a promotion, hmm?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Saguru Hakuba, team leader of Criminal Affairs' department. Pretty bold of you to tackle that one."

Aoko was about to burst, but she wouldn't want the other two men to notice her rage. "I didn't know he's a police officer."

"Even if you don't, you should at least know his father when you heard his name."

"His father?" Hakuba didn't look like he was from Japan, and he looked rather well-looking too... "Is he a Hollywood actor?"

Kaito gave her a look of disdain. "Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Superintendent General Hakuba."

"W-What?!"

"Aoko."

She turned her head in a fashionably robot manner and stared at Shinichi who called for her. She had no dignity left to dare herself to look at Hakuba. Why were her first encounters so _unlucky_?

"Y-Yes?"

"Hakuba's treat today, for lunch. Do you like to join?"

 _Am I allowed to say no?_ She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling inferior even though she had been used to knowing where her status and rank stand since ages ago. But now, it was coming back to her, double, no, triple the attack.

"Sure." Her throat tightened.

"Kaito?"

"No thanks." He slumped back onto his seat and opened his newspaper again. "Someone has to take the call."

"What a pity." Hakuba smiled, not looking as sad as he sounded at all. He turned away from Kaito before geturing her towards the door. "After you, Nakamori-san."

A sense of guilt began overwhelming her chest as she gave a last glance over at Kaito. Although Shinichi would be there, she was at least hoping Kaito would join in so she could have someone she could properly talk to without having a need to put too much filter through her mouth. Her stare was obvious, but he didn't return her gaze and focused on the newspaper in his hands.

She sighed inwardly and headed out of the door. No matter what kind of food Hakuba was going to treat, she was sure it wouldn't be any better than the chicken sandwich Kaito once bought for her during stakeout, or the teriyaki chicken bento set he gave her because there was a one-for-one offer at the cafeteria, or the chocolate muffins he got from a couple of kids selling on the street during their patrol week.

Maybe it wasn't about the food. Maybe it was because Kaito wasn't there, that's all.

.o.

"Are you sure you don't need me to wait for you?"

"It's fine, really." Aoko smiled and forced herself not to bite her lips. It always emphasize on how awkward she was. "I still have something I haven't finish so I'll stay till I'm done."

"Alright then, I'll see you around soon." Hakuba smiled and tucked his head to his position, hands on his steering wheel. "It was a pleasant dinner."

"Thank you for the treat."

"It's my pleasure. Good night Aoko-san."

"Goodnight."

She closed the car door and watched the fancy car drove down the road and heaved the heaviest sigh she had kept within her for the entire day. A simple _Thank you for the treat_ was a complete understatement when Hakuba had brought her to one of the biggest hotel in Tokyo for a six-course meal that made her appetite almost full just by thinking about the price.

Hakuba was a nice guy, _too_ nice for her, and too nice to notice her lie. It was true that she had left an important file she was supposed to bring back home to look through before tomorrow's meeting, but there wasn't any work for her to stay in the office. She had enough being an awkward turtle for the night and this was the only perfect excuse to bail herself out. Somehow, she wondered if Kaito would be able to see through this lie if he was here.

As she made her way towards the headquarters, she cringed at the sharp pain at her ankle. She was wearing a beautiful pair of black heels that Hakuba bought for her last week, and just like most stubborn men she knew in the force, he wouldn't take a no for an answer too. Using the chance to show that she liked the gift, she wore it for tonight's dinner with a compatible black dress too. But despite how pretty and confident she felt about her attire today, the pain was a little too much. She glanced down at her ankle and sighed at the dried blood.

Even though the headquarters opened all day and night, it was obviously much emptier compared to the day. Aoko greeted the security guards that were doing their duty and waited for the lift, this time ensuring that no one was inside before getting in. She had learnt her lesson well.

Aoko managed to walk all the way to her office, close to the point of wanting to rip out her ankles. Just as she was about to open the door, she peered through the glass, her eyes blinking at a figure inside. Who could it be in the office at this hour?

It was Kaito, sitting in front of his desk, his nimble fingers running past the keyboards. She then remembered Shinichi had asked him for the report that was long overdue this morning, which he tried to pretend he didn't know that the report existed but failed and was forced to stay overtime to get it done. She snickered behind her hand, a little glad that he managed to get some kind of punishment even if it was minor, since she didn't have the authority to discipline him in any way. She had no idea how long she had been staring until he stopped typing and gave a yawn. He rubbed his tired eyes for a bit before continuing with his work.

She licked her lips, wondering if she should be a generous angel today. It didn't take her too long to make her decision. She limped her way towards the vending machine at the end of the corridor and slotted in the needed coins for the favourite coffee Kaito liked and hobbled her way back again. She would have raged if Kaito wasn't there and her suffering would be wasted, but he was still by his desk, hard at work.

As quiet as a trained police officer, she slipped through the door and steadily made her way past the carpet floor and stood right behind Kaito when she whispered into his ears.

"Hey."

Kaito jerked up from his position and spun his head around, eyes grew a little wide. Everyone else would have thought it was not much of a difference from his usual expression, but they didn't understand him better than she did. This was enough to tell her she had surprised him more than she intended to.

He scowled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She waved the coffee in her hand and passed it to him. "Why can't I?"

"Aren't you suppose to be in some fancy restaurant and enjoying the best meal of your life?" He twisted his chair towards her and took the can from her hand.

"We've finished our dinner."

"And the next plan in action should be seeing the stars from the balcony of his mansion. What are you here for, again?"

"To get a file."

"To get a file." He echoed and frowned. "Are you serious? Is he waiting at the lobby?"

"Nope. I asked him to drop me off and leave first."

" _Why?_ "

Even though it could be every girls' dream to get a date with Hakuba like her, it didn't change the fact that he was out of her league. She could imagine everything going wrong between them, even if Hakuba was the perfect Mr. Right. The ambiance at the hotel was comfortable and relaxing, but being right here in the office was a hundred times better. All she could do was to shrug at his question. She didn't know how to put her feelings into words that wouldn't make her sound sentimental and... weird, in some way.

"Ohhhh." Kaito gave a sly smile, seeming to have come up with his own answer. "Trying to play hard to get?"

"It's not that." She spat. "I don't want anything more than friendship between us."

He raised an eyebrow, earnestly curious. "Why not? He's a good catch."

Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow, equally as curious. "I thought you didn't like Hakuba."

"You are not wrong. But how does me not liking him concerns your happiness?"

She blinked. His words should have been true, yet something in her gut told her otherwise. Something was definitely wrong with her. She shouldn't be giving a shit about what Kaito thought, but... "No, uh. I just didn't expect you to support any progression of our relationship."

"I don't." He turned away and stared at his unopened can of coffee. "But calculative speaking, for your happiness, I do. Even though he's an ass-hat, he's rich, popular, smart and better than many scums I know." He gave a wry smile. "And one of the many scums is me."

 _You're not a scu-_

"Anyway," he raised the can of coffee, "thanks for the coffee, Aoko. Appreciate it."

She part her lips, eyes widened by a fraction. If he noticed her change of reaction, he sure didn't show it. As he nonchalantly cracked open his can, her urge to say something, anything, to rectify that sad ending of their conversation was so bloody strong.

Long ago, she had finally came to terms to what Shinichi once told her, about how he always kept his good side well hidden, but it was there. This sentence often took her a journey down the memory lane, and it wasn't surprising when there were many moments that reminded her it was true. Their first meeting wasn't pleasant, but he wasn't one of those people who asked her to do coffee runs when she was still a newbie. He gave her the first assignment without hesitation. He didn't call her a pumpkin. He believed in her potential. He helped her. He trusted her.

He _trusted_ her.

"You're not a scum." She softly said. He heard her and glanced up, his eyes gazing right through her. It was like that dance many months ago, the same moment and feeling when she couldn't look away from his sea-blue eyes...

Yes. Something was definitely wrong with her.

Unlike her, he managed to look away effortlessly, but she swore she just saw a flash of the tiniest smile she had ever seen. "You've sucked up the wrong person. I don't have the power to help you with your promotion."

"If I cared about promotion from the start, I wouldn't even be here _with you_." She scowled lightly and went to her desk. She kicked off her heels and pulled out the drawer where she kept her band aids and changed out with the old ones. It didn't do any help to lessen the pain, but at least her wound wouldn't be much worse than before.

"It's late and your prince isn't here to take you away." He stared at his screen, probably at the computer clock. "How are you going home?"

She bit her lips, absolutely forgetting all about her transport home. With the speed she walked, she would probably miss the last bus by the time she reached the bus stop and all she could do was to take a cab, but the midnight charge was going to cost her a bomb. She sighed at the thought and put on her troublesome heels again after she finished changing her band aids. "Cab, I supposed. I would've walked but my feet are scrapped by the heels."

"You live nearby?"

There wasn't any house-warming party or any kind of invitation to her house before, he wouldn't have known.

"Since my transfer."

He straightened his posture. "I'll send you home."

"Oh." She waved a hand. "It's fine-"

"Your face was basically saying _darn the midnight charge_. Don't lie."

She didn't intend to lie in the first place anyway. "What about your report? It's due tomorrow."

"It's due when I'm done." He tilted the can to his lips and chugged the entire coffee down in mere seconds before tossing it into the trashcan. "I need to get out of here for a while or I'll get myopia soon."

There wasn't a point in trying to argue and she knew better than to waste her breath. She picked her bag and the file she had forgotten behind for the so-called date and limped her way to the door, trying to ignore the stinging pain.

She was already having difficulty to get her steps right and Kaito made it much worse by abruptly cutting her path and she almost fell right into his chest if she didn't stable herself in time. Despite the heels, she realized she was still a little shorter than him. She was about to ask him what the hell he was up to when he lifted a pair of slippers to her face.

"Use this. Seeing you walk like that hurts my eyes more than the computer screen." He waved the flip-flops in his hand. "It's new by the way."

"Why do you have a pair of new slippers with you?" She blinked.

"I kept these as spares just in case it's needed. And I was right." He smirked before throwing the shoes on the floor and used a foot to shift one of the pair and compare it to her feet. "The size might be a little big for you but it'll still be more comfortable than your heels."

She was so used to his bullying ways and how he would randomly throw insults at her just to piss her off that seeing him being nice to her twice in a row was much scarier than his mean demeanour. Still, she whispered her thanks as she slipped into the flip-flops and unconsciously smiled at the comfort. Nothing had _ever_ felt better than this. She wriggled her freed toes happily and glanced up, to see Kaito staring at her with that same, plain expression she had seen for a few times, yet she never once managed to decipher what it meant.

Kaito instantly looked away when she caught his eyes. He bent forward and helped to pick up her heels from the ground and passed it to her without giving her a second glance before turning towards the door. _Did I do something wrong?_ She pondered, but those unnecessary thoughts vanished like the wind when he tilted his head back at the last moment before he stepped out of the open door. "I'll go get the car and you'll wait for me at the roadside."

Aoko smiled. "Okay."

He blinked at her, as if he was dumbstruck. But he was never dumbstruck. He couldn't have been. She was about to ask what was wrong when he turned away again, his broad back disappeared down the corridor even before the glass door closed behind him.


	5. Fate

Circle of Fate

5: Fate

* * *

It had been long since Aoko went to a bar to let loose and get some proper sleep after that. She had planned it for weeks and postponed it every single time, but her work load had finally lessened enough for her to enjoy it today.

She was the last few people to leave the office, but it was still considerably early to hit her favourite bar that wasn't far from her home. She packed her bag, checked her desk to see if she missed out anything and turned towards the door, her eyes unconsciously glanced over at Kaito's empty chair. He was always the _first_ few people to leave the office, that jerk.

The bar was rather empty tonight since it wasn't the weekends and she managed to grab her favourite spot on a highchair by the counter, the perfect place to avoid the crowd. She ordered a glass of beer as usual and indulged in her little privacy while trying to listen to the music playing in the background. She wasn't one who knew how to appreciate music, but for some reason, she preferred upbeat songs, those that could make her remember that little happiness she enjoyed when she danced in Kaito's arms.

 _Not that again._ She shook her head, trying to dispel the thought. It was a pleasant memory, but it always made her feel weird in the chest. Best to avoid something she didn't understand, to save the trouble of wasting her brain cells when it could be used on solving cases and murders.

"Excuse me?" An old bartender with plenty of white hair suddenly stood behind the counter and directly in front of her while she was in the middle of sipping her glass of beer.

Aoko wiped the foam on her mouth with the back of her hand. "Yes?" She remembered this bartender who occasionally served her back when she was a frequent customer in the early period after her transfer, though she wasn't sure if she ever left an impression here with how quiet she was.

The old man returned a warm smile. "Do you happen to know Kuroba-kun?"

"Kuroba... Kuroba Kaito?"

"Yes."

"Yeah." She couldn't help but turned a little wary. There was nothing positive to think about when someone asked her this type of question, especially when it was about that troublemaker. What could have happened? "I do."

"That's great." He lifted a lanyard with a pass and slid it over to Aoko. "I presumed this is very important to him, but he looked rather drunk when he left so I doubt he will realize he had forgotten his pass here until tomorrow, and the bar only opens at evening period so it might be too late. Perhaps you can help to return this to him?"

She eyed at the police identification pass in mild astonishment. How stupidly careless of him to have left something like _this_ behind. Was he that drunk? Her lips twitched upwards. She would definitely have the time of her life tomorrow morning to drill this incident at him.

"Sure, no problem." She picked up the pass and stared at his ID photo, his idiotic grin was staring back at her. To think that she once mistaken this fool as the Detective of the East. At the start of her work, it was a little hard to differentiate both of them, but now, she could see all the differences in the world.

"Thank you Nakamori-san."

It took her an ounce of energy not to hit herself in the head for being so stupid. How in the first place did this old man knew about her relationship with Kaito when they've never interacted in this bar before, saved for that very one time when he tried to impress her with a pick up line and it was all just a terrible mistake. And how did he know her name?! Her grip around the lanyard tightened as her back straightened with alert. Something was wrong here. Was it all a scam? She decided to take this investigation one step at a time.

"How do you know my name?"

"Kuroba-kun told me, of course."

"W-What?"

The old bartender, whose name tag showed that his name was Hiroshi, picked up an empty glass and began wiping with a cloth. It seemed he didn't intend to leave his post or avoid the conversation like what she thought a guilty man would.

"He's been drinking a lot less now, that's why he left much earlier before I realize he had forgotten his belonging here."

"Oh I see." It still didn't really explain how he knew she was Nakamori and-

"He even stopped leaving the bar with women since a long time ago too. He had changed a lot, as of late."

 _Okay...Where exactly is this conversation heading now?_ She was definitely not interested to know anything about his _private_ life, even if it was some positive change.

"Recently, he'd started talking about this female colleague of his who gave him tons of headache during work sometimes. I wonder if it's the reason for his change."

That caught her attention. "A female colleague?" There were only Sawako, Hitomi, Akira and her that worked under Shinichi like him. Unless he was referring to the forensic team or other Division 1 squads-

"Yeah. Apparently that colleague once locked both of them out of the car during a stakeout because she did something to the remote and they had to hide in the bushes instead."

 _W-Wait. That female colleague Kaito talked about... was me?!_ She flushed at the memory and felt lucky that the lights in the bar were dim for anyone to notice her reddened cheeks. She had never owned a car before and had no idea how the remote control worked, how could he blame her for that? He should blame himself for using such a complex car.

"Not only that. He was supposedly tasked with that colleague to follow a suspect in an amusement park. But she went missing, and the worst thing was their communication devices weren't working. Having no choice, he had to get the help of the voice announcer to find her."

 _She_ went missing? It was _he_ who went missing! Aoko curled her hand to a fist, a vein popped on her temple as she recalled the embarrassment of being described to a few thousands of people as _a lost child called Nakamori Ahouko_.

"Ahhh. That same colleague wasn't good with aiming too. They were in the middle of chasing a criminal when she threw her shoe but it hit his head instead because she was behind him. He told me he nearly blacked out at the point of time."

About that... She had nothing to say but to feel proud of this flaw of hers. He sort of deserved that.

"Oh, and that colleague also-"

"I think that's enough stories to explain his headache." She mustered a laugh and sipped onto her drink, her face still red, but not from the alcohol. She squashed Kaito's lanyard into her bag, knowing that he would pay tomorrow for all the things he had gossiped behind her back. How dare he!

Hiroshi chuckled and placed his cleaned glass in a neat row. "Well, one thing for sure is that even under these circumstances, you two still get along pretty well, right?"

Oh great, this was awkward. So he knew _that_ female colleague was her. Just how much did Kaito talked about her that this bartender she knew nothing about seemed to know her more than what her comfort would allow? Not that she didn't trust this old man, in fact he gave her a warm feeling like she was at home, despite the obvious knowledge that she was at a bar. A thought suddenly struck her.

Old man. Bar.

Konosuke Jii.

She pursed her lips, eyes tentatively lowered before using all the energy in her to look up at Hiroshi, who was still showing that calm and gentle gaze like a grandfather would show to his grandchildren. Why didn't she realize sooner that there was no way Kaito would have talked so much about everything to a mere bartender, but it was because Hiroshi reminded him of Jii that made him tell stories like they were long, close friends? This already helped her to answer his question.

"I still don't quite understand him sometimes, even though I'm his colleague for so long." _Just a month more and it'll be two years._ She sighed inwardly. "Maybe that's why we don't really get along."

Hiroshi watched her for a moment before returning back to wipe the remaining glasses. "When he was talking about all these things to me, and everything you did that give him a headache... He always had _this_ smile on his face."

 _Smile... on his face?_

"Women say more than what they think, making situations a whole lot more complex. Men say less than what they felt, making them misunderstood creatures." Hiroshi placed his cloth aside, suddenly focused in the conversation. "Both complement each other, that's how a relationship works."

Aoko blinked. "Y-You've mistaken. Kuroba and I aren't in a relationship."

"Did I say you both are?"

"No, but I think it was implied on."

He gave that signature smile again. "Enjoy your night, Nakamori-san. I'll leave his pass in your hands." Without giving any chance for Aoko to explain a second time, he left the counter to attend to his other business.

The next morning, Aoko stealthily dumped his lanyard into an aquarium of fishes that was located at the lobby by the reception counter of the headquarters. She knew how much the receptionist loved and cared for the fishes frequently, so it wouldn't be long for Kaito to know his pass was in there. At least she was kind enough to put it somewhere before the gate area, where they needed a pass to get into the internal offices instead of reporting him for losing his pass, which saved him from more punishment and penalties. He should be grateful.

She was already hard at work in the early morning, busy reading her reports on her desk in the quiet office she loved, not until her phone rung and disrupted her thoughts,

"Yes, Inspector Kuroba?" She said merrily as she answered her phone after seeing her phone screen. She had placed an image of Kaito digging his nose as his contact's photo so it was easy to know when he called. Unprofessional and childish, but he started it by putting a picture of her eating a mouthful of sandwich as her contact first.

 _"Come down to the reception counter at the first floor."_

"Why?"

 _"Just come down."_

"I have work to do."

 _"This is an order."_

Aoko had to repress a chuckle from hearing that agitated tone of his. Such a pleasant sound. She pretended to be pissed and obliged as she walked out of the office, skipping along the way while telling herself it was all worth it for all the embarrassment he had put her through in the bar yesterday.

 _"He always had_ this _smile on his face."_

A beer a day could keep her insomnia away. But that sentence had been bugging her the entire night till it made her trip to the bar a wasted one. She had been lying on her bed, staring at her ceiling and wondering what kind of smile the bartender was talking about. His dumb ass grin? His irritating smirk? His proud smug look? It was infuriating how he was able to rule her mind even when his physical being wasn't there.

She tapped her pass-card out of the gate and found him standing at the opposite side of the aquarium, arms crossed with a bored frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" She approached towards Kaito and gave a sidelong glance at the glass tank. Got to keep her cool or her scheme would get busted.

He grudgingly jabbed a thumb into the direction. "Help me to take my ID pass from that aquarium."

"Your ID pass?" She feigned a sound of surprise. "Why is it in there?"

He narrowed her eyes, like he was contemplating something about her. It seemed he didn't know it was her doing, but her self-acting skill was still poor after all.

"I lost it, somehow. The receptionist saw it inside the tank when she was feeding the fishes and contacted me, but she didn't want to dirty her stupid blouse to help me."

"What makes you think I'm willing to dirty mine _for you_?" She frowned genuinely.

He sighed, a little desperation seeping through his tone. "Please."

"Why can't you do it yourself?"

"Don't ask. Just help."

"Why?"

" _Nakamori Aoko._ "

It was a hidden warning spelled with her name, but there was no way in hell she was going to give up. He would bully her and command her to do things for him for the sake of fun, but he would also rather die than ask for help that concerned his pride, which he nearly did most of the time. This time round, she wasn't sure if it was the former or the latter. Like somewhere in between. There was something _fishy_ going about his attitude now.

"Are you afraid of fishes or something?" She randomly blurted.

He flinched.

Oh.

 _Oh._

She didn't quite understand him sometimes, but she was always learning something new about him each and every day.

.o.

Aoko had been in the hospital many times that she had lost count. She couldn't put all the blame on Kaito when she was part of the count more than once. A bleeding arm, twisted ankle... she suffered through the morphine and painkillers, but at least she never had to taste the bland porridge the hospital served to the patients before; she hadn't reached that stage yet, and she wasn't aiming for it. Hospital visits weren't nice. She didn't like to be the one feeling the pain, and she didn't like the part of worrying about the injured person inside the ward.

But if she could choose right now, she would volunteer to be the one who was _hurt_.

Three bullets on the right leg. Three bullets. Three.

Bullets.

Three. Bullets.

Those words were constantly haunting Aoko's mind for the whole night while she was waiting for the surgeons to come out of the operation room. The mood in the hospital was too heavy for her to breathe, and so she went to try somewhere else to wait and ended up in the empty canteen and the lobby, but to no avail of helping to soothe her aching chest. She didn't have any physical injuries that needed to be taken care of, but she wished she could take out her heart and make it stop being in so, _so_ much pain...

She continuously searched for a place to help her clear her mind until she found her way out to the hospital's garden, where people were allowed to take a breeze and enjoy the little view instead of the colourless walls inside. There were several potted plants lying around for decorations, but the stars littering the dark sky was a better view. She cared neither of it and focused on her heavily blood-stained shirt before tiredness overwhelmed her and she sat on a lone bench, legs spread out like the shape of an opened scissors.

Sawako was a strong woman. Buff, tall and loud, a little contradicting to her feminine name. But that's what Aoko admired about her colleague. She didn't allow the fate of her name to control who she was. She became who she wanted to be. A policewoman who was helpful and full-of-justice.

Not until when one of the many criminals their team had ambushed suddenly pulled out a gun and shot those three bullets at her right leg before she collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.

If it was anyone's fault, it should be the criminal who fired the gun. But no matter how hard Aoko told herself that, she just couldn't erase the memory of Sawako's blood pooling around her lower body. She tried desperately to press the wound as much as she could so the wound wouldn't bleed as much, but there were three bullets, three places where her mere two hands couldn't cover. She felt that familiar sour feeling in her throat and her eyes began to sting in pain as she recalled the memory.

Three shots. Two hands. Three bullets.

Three bullets.

Three.

"Hey."

She lifted her head to the voice. Instead of seeing the black sky, she saw blue. Blue, shimmering eyes were gazing directly down at her and all the bright stars suddenly fade away like it didn't exist.

Kaito stepped away from the back of the bench and slumped on the seat right next to her, his shoulder brushing across her own.

"Why are you here?" She gaped.

"Because I'm looking for you, obviously." He snorted.

For the entire while, they both sat there in silence without any words being exchanged. She had taken notice of how his shoulder was still slightly resting against hers and she thought fleetingly that she _should_ move it, but didn't. Now, some time had already passed and she _couldn't_ , if she didn't want to create a misunderstanding that she was uncomfortable. In fact, she wasn't at all. She actually liked the warmth seeping through her shirt, a sense of comfort she didn't realize she needed so desperately until she had it now.

She enjoyed the silence a bit longer until she noted how odd it was. "Why are you looking for me?"

"I thought that you needed someone, even though I'm not the best option."

"You don't have to bother."

"I'm your senior. I have to."

Senior? How weird it was to hear him say that. She would have laughed if she wasn't so down right now. But it was true. It didn't take her too long to realize that _yes_ , she needed someone, _anyone_ , to be here, especially Kaito. He might not know, and probably would never _ever_ know, but he was actually her first option to have as company, despite how infuriating he was. He was the only person in the headquarters that made her feel herself.

"How's... Sawako?" Her phone was switched off during the raid and she didn't bother to switch it back on. It was more like she didn't have the courage to do so, in case someone contacted her and she just burst out like that time when she called Shinichi about Kaito's incident when Sakamoto's brother slashed his stomach. Although Shinichi seemed like he had forgotten all about it, she couldn't.

"I've asked the others to tell me if she's out. The last time I was there, she's still in the operation room."

"Oh." She lowered her head, her hands curled into a fist. There were millions of sorrowful, self-destructive words stuck in her throat, so stuffy and tight and she had no idea how she was capable of keeping it inside of her so long. Her dry lips cracked open, voice hoarse as she couldn't help but to spill it out in its shortest form possible; she needed someone to know. She was trained well by Kaito to always _cut the bullshit and get straight to the point_ , as quoted. "If I'm not so dense and reacted faster, Sawako wouldn't bleed so much." She shut her eyes. "It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault." He replied without hesitation.

"It's my fault."

"It's not."

"It is."

"It isn't."

"Yes."

"No."

"Is it fun for you to go against me every time, _Inspector Kuroba_?" She didn't feel any kind of sadness left in her body. It was pure anger.

"Yes. But not this time." He said solemnly and turned to face her, his shoulder moved against her sleeve. "Why are you feeling responsible for something you didn't do? It's not you who fired the gun."

She had learnt a lesson; to keep her mouth shut and never let her anger control what she say. But she learnt this lesson a second too late.

"Is that how you comfort yourself about Konosuke Jii?"

He didn't tense, much less showing any form of reaction like the time she guessed his ridiculous phobia. He simply looked at her with a gaze that showed no emotion before his lips slowly curled into a small smile. That smile hit her in all sorts of places, especially the guilty part of her.

"Yeah. That's how I lived."

Something in Kaito's tone broke her heart. "Sorry." She wished the sky could swallow her whole and never return. What the hell was she even saying in the first place?! She cursed herself mentally and quickly tried to find words to rectify her mistakes. "I'm really sorry. I-I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." He turned away, obviously not, but she didn't dare to pry further. "Now you should know that I understand your state better than anyone. There's really no point in blaming yourself. It won't change anything."

Easier said than done. "But I-"

"Just take it as some kind of... Fate." He pondered on his words, as if he was trying to convince himself too. "Maybe those three bullets would change Sawako's life, in another way that she didn't consider as a choice before. Like me. I never once thought I'll be a policeman, honestly speaking. But I did. And I met you. And here I am, comforting your pitiful ass. Kind of weird, huh?"

Aoko was immune to his sarcasm and retorts since forever. It was always, _always_ when he did something nice to her that got under her defences. She pressed an arm over her eyes and let out the kind of loud sobs that she couldn't hide, the kind that gave her a lot of snorts and red-nosed hiccups. She was blessed to know she had some tissues left in her pockets.

She blew her nose, her tears flowing so much like it could cure drought. She reckoned Kaito would be bored by her teary mess, but he didn't complain. Instead, she felt his warm hand patting her back slowly in a good and comforting rhythm, as if he was born to do this. His action just did an opposite effect and made her cry even harder. She didn't know if he notice, but he didn't stop.

It had been ages since she cried so terribly, like all the remorse and sorrows that was bottled in her for all her life was poured all out. And after who-knows how long, she finally regained back enough composure to say her words properly without excessive hiccups in between.

"Th-Thank you. I'm fine now."

He didn't answer and seem to ignore her for a bit and continued his patting, but he eventually stopped and placed his hand back to his lap. There wasn't much light around, and she would have missed that white bandage that wrapped around his wrist and up to his palm if she didn't specifically looked at the same hand that patted her back seconds ago.

"Y-Your hand. It's injured." She stated the obvious.

"Sprained a little while tussling with one of those rotten shits. Nothing much."

The fact that he didn't complain. The fact that he still comforted her even after what she said about Konosuke Jii. The fact that he put aside his own value and regarded her well-being as a higher importance. Everything just made her guilt bite down even harder than she could ever imagine. She could never forgive herself about Sawako, and she would never forget today too, about how much she owed Kaito for everything he had done _for her_. Just another memory to add to that famous quote Shinichi once used to describe him to her; _"He always keeps his good side well hidden, but it's there."_

She wished she could say something, but no words could come out. Besides feeling sorry and thankful, the rare kind of emotions she rarely felt or showed to Kaito before, there was this other unfamiliar and weird tingling mess in the pit of her stomach. She was always comfortable in saying rude things to Kaito, so she had completely no idea how to respond or react to this new change she felt towards him. The only explanation was that she was hungry. Yes. She must be hungry.

Kaito's phone suddenly rang and he whipped it out from his pocket with the other uninjured hand and answered without confirming who it was. She watched him listen to the one-sided conversation and tried to guess on her own about what it could be. She failed to do so because his cut the call before his poker-face cracked.

"What ha-happened?" She couldn't afford to breathe. "I-Is it Sawako?"

He heaved a sigh and turned towards her. The next thing she saw was a big, bright smile, so radiant it could almost lit up the dark night. "She's out of the operation room. Out of danger too."

Aoko jumped up from her sitting position, too happy to ignore the sudden pin and needles pricking her feet. She clapped her hands together, thanking to whichever God that blessed this moment. Kaito had stood up from the bench too, quietly watching her bubbly self. This was the greatest news she ever received, even better than winning a lottery and she was so busy being blissful and relief that she pounced right into his chest without thinking much and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"She's fine. She's fine! Thank God! She's fine now!" She squealed like a mouse swimming in a pot of cheese. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

They stayed in the same position for quite some time, with her bouncing up and down and one side of her face brushing against his tousled yet smooth hair, while he was simply standing there and letting her do her solo joyous dance.

Everything was like a foggy memory, something she would remember feeling, but not exactly knowing what really happened. Maybe she felt his same, warm hand slowly moving up her back. Maybe she felt his chin resting on her shoulder. Maybe she felt his lips smiling against her ear. Maybe all of it happened, or maybe all were just her imagination. She had absolutely no idea. But she remembered being happy, really happy, before breaking the hug and dashing towards the hospital, demanding that they shouldn't waste any more time and find Sawako as soon as possible.

Now that she thought back about it, that was the most intimate contact they ever experienced together, and it was close to being the top most embarrassing thing that happened in Aoko's life, ranking second after the incident of somersaulting and falling head first into a pile of snow during her high-school skiing trip. But he never bring up about this _accidental_ hug ever since, as if he didn't care _or_ mind. She wondered which one it was, the former or the latter. If it was the Kaito she knew, it would definitely be the former. But deep down inside, she would wish it would be the latter.

.o.

Sawako was discharged around a month later, wheelchair bound and only allowed to do admin duties. It would take her a long while and having to go through many physical tests before she could be sent to the field again. But she didn't mind, and was more than happy to be _alive_ and back at work.

Her return was welcomed with tons of chocolates, get-well-soon cards and flowers too, and their office nearly turned into something similar to a florist's store during that period when she just came back. Aoko recognized most of the flowers, especially the tulips, carnation and roses _and_ also the symbolism behind them (again).

That was why when the receptionist helped to deliver a bouquet of flowers that Aoko didn't recognize to Sawako's desk, it was far too strange to ignore.

The petals of the flowers were white, and almost shaped like a heart. She leaned over Sawako's desk, along with other colleagues who were equally as busybody as her and gaped at the beautiful bouquet in awe.

"What's this? It's quite special." Takashi frowned.

Sawako shrugged. "I'm not too sure either."

"Primrose. Also known as _Primula Vulgaris_." Kaito drawled and flipped to the next page of his newspaper from his seat. Everyone turned towards him, mouths opened and impressed with his _wisdom_. Aoko was already used to it to remain impassive. "The flower represents eternal love."

Everyone turned away from him and gave the _ohhhs_ and _ahhhs_ , except for Aoko. Instead of the usual feeling of being impressed, she was getting more and more curious regarding Kaito's knowledge about almost _everything_ , especially flowers. He wasn't the type to strike her as a person who appreciates flowers, but there he was, basically a walking-Wikipedia of it. She wished she could crack open his brain one day and see what was inside.

"Who gave you something so _delicate_ , Sawako?" Akira grinned and nudged her shoulder playfully. "Someone we know?"

She was in the midst of reading the gift card in her hand when she blushed, which just caused the rest to start their rounds of teasing questions and remarks. She finally gave in when the office was nearly erupting in chaos.

"Doctor Hayashi. The one who took care of me the entire time of my stay. We got a little close, I guess."

Instead of quietening everyone down, it did the opposite effect that even Shinichi couldn't help but came out of his office, wanting to know what the commotion was about. As bold as it sounded, no one really cared about his presence more than Sawako's future and happiness.

It took a while for Aoko to realize what Kaito's words at the hospital's garden finally meant. Sawako and Doctor Hayashi's meeting wasn't a choice. It was fate. And it wouldn't have happened if those three bullets weren't fired. Everything suddenly clicked in her mind just like that and she stepped a little out of the crowd and glanced at Kaito, who was looking unfazed about the whole ruckus and had changed his attention to his phone instead.

How _amazing_ , again. He probably didn't even think when he spoke sometimes, yet his words often changed her life so easily like it was nothing. Their first meeting, their encounters, their experiences... Everything that lead to their current weird relationship... Was it all meant to be?

She gave a last look over at Kaito before turning back to Sawako, trying to save those thoughts for later. Or soon.

Fate, she decided, was just a funny thing she probably would never be able to comprehend.


	6. Choice

Circle of Fate

6: Choice

* * *

Another day, another night. Her hands smoothed over the counter and she raised a finger to the bartender and mouthed the word of her drink before sitting on the high chair, her back slouched heavily and tiredly from the hard day at work. Even though her glass of beer came to the front of her face as quick as she ordered, she was still trying to find the energy within her to move.

 _Being_ a police detective for the past two years and more was supposed to be simple. Looking over crime scenes, piecing clues together, find the suspects, prosecute the murderer and case closed. What made it not so simple were the people she interacted with. The uncooperative witnesses, the misleading statements, the weird loopholes... and Kaito.

Kaito was all of it. Uncooperative. Misleading. And weird. He was nothing she expected to find in a person from Division 1, and furthermore under the team managed by the legendary Detective of the East. His existence was the reason for her high blood pressure, the reason why she dared to retort and speak up her opinions, the reason why she lowered her expectation of having a good life after her transfer, but ended up going beyond and enjoyed her stay here more than she thought she ever would. Definitely weird.

Oh great, his weirdness must be contagious. For her to be thinking of him now, she was becoming just as weird as him too. Ugh.

She tried to relax and begin to draw some shapes on the condensation on her glass, hoping anything would distract her current state of mind. Wouldn't do good to think about him so late at night, it'll definitely ruin her sleep later-

"You don't look so well. I think you're suffering from a lack of vitamin me."

Her entire body froze.

 _What... The hell?_

Aoko slowly turned away from her beer, completely wide awake to know who she was expecting to see even before she moved her head. She remembered the way the dim light lit up his face and showing off his features, the way he spoke, the way he leaned against the counter... Everything was the same like their previous encounter here, but this time, his smirk didn't go away.

"Kuroba-?"

"Can I sit here?"

She stared at him for a long while, taking her time to contemplate what he was up to, and at the same time to take a better look at his blue eyes. Was it because of the lights, or were his eyes ever so... Blue? He took off his coat to hang it on the back of his chair before taking his seat, his swift actions completed in a split second right after she simply twitched her hand and wanted to gesture him to the chair next to her. How big on earth was his ego?

"You've definitely just said a pick up line." She stated firmly as she watched him signalled a bartender and the latter began making his drink without even asking what he want. He denied it the last time and even insulted her. There was no way she'll back down if he did it again.

"I did." He said, but almost made it sound like a yawn.

To her mild surprise, this was one of the rare times he'd given an answer so easily. Although she didn't have any chance to show off her improved argumentative skills, it was fine. She would save them for next time.

"It's gross." Aoko muttered and took a sip of her beer.

"I'll close an eye for that insubordination act because you're not on duty now, at least not until eight more hours."

She rolled her eyes. "I was almost positive you'll blame the lights this time round."

He scowled and chugged down his drink after the bartender gave it to him. It seemed to be a mixture of some liquor or some sort, not like she was interested to know. After he was done, he ordered another one before looking back at her again. "Negative. I'm doing you a favor to make your experience here a meaningful one."

"I don't need a pick up line."

"You should be honoured it's from _me_."

"No thanks." _Seriously._

It could have been the presences of liquor, the uplifting mood to be away from the office and murder cases, or maybe the soothing and suitable music playing in the background that made it easier to converse between each other. Everything could be part of the reason to why that thin barrier that was built in the middle of them was melting away, little by little, but no matter what it was, they were _talking_.

During their job, they've never talked about anything much personal. She only spent her time reviewing some cases with him, _professionally discussing_ about people and hearing his rude insults about her brains or body. That was that. The furthest they've went was Konosuke Jii and her puzzling relationship with Hakuba, although the latter was long history. After work, it was home. And before work, it was home.

"Don't you have friends?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. "You're always drinking alone."

"I don't drink to socialize." She felt her cheeks turned warm when she recalled how her friends forbid anywhere with liquor as the place to hang out. They were all afraid of her when she got a little over-tipsy than her body would allow. "Catch up sessions are better when you're sober and sane."

He eyed her skeptically. Was her blush obvious or was it because of something else?

Aoko didn't mind him bombarding her with the next few random questions, as long it didn't involve her butt and chest (He asked whether she was ever mistaken for a guy when she had short hair, to which she _accidentally_ swung her arm and almost slapped his head if he dodged just a millisecond later). Her stay at the bar was never more than half an hour, so it wasn't difficult for her to break the record with him as company today. He could be dancing in the crowd, grinding with other women who had better assets than her... And here he was, spending extra hours with her like it wasn't enough back in their office. She really couldn't understand him, but this didn't mean she minded him being here.

She didn't mind at all.

He started asking about her father. About his health, his work, his hopes for his only daughter (She didn't tell anything regarding the last one. It wasn't his business). He had already ordered his fourth glass by the time they've moved on to the next subject and had asked something along the lines about her dreams. She was only halfway through her beer.

"Being a police detective is my dream." She shyly smiled at the images playing in her head, especially the part when she told her father about her future and the proud look he gave her. She realized most of Kaito's questions had touched upon her memory bank for a bit, but those memories were good, so it was fine

"Good for you." He sounded so sincere, to a point it gave her a little chill.

Aoko glanced over at him and asked the very first question of the day. "What about you? Are you ever-" She bit her lips and caught her words before it was spoken. Was she prepared to know the answer? Was this the right question to ask? She pondered for a moment and stared at his poker face. "Are you ever going to return in becoming a magician?"

"I've said before." He mumbled quietly to the air. There was something expressive about the lines of his shoulders that told her not to push for any details, not like she didn't know half of the reason why. "I don't want to touch magic again."

She could feel her heart dropped. Wasn't it expected? She thought the mood was ruined and she was back to square one; having only rude and pointless insults throwing back and forth between them for no reason. But Kaito continued, not allowing any silence to sink in.

"Anyway, are you even satisfied with your miserable pay?" He shook his head pitifully. "Just wear some short skirts and do a couple of cat-walks by Hakuba's office and you're good to go."

"I thought we're _already_ over with that conversation." She growled under her breath.

"Just a suggestion."

She tried again and asked her second question, but it didn't go as well because the moment she even mentioned the word _fish_ , he was instantly turned off. It was unfair that he knew so many things about her, yet she almost knew nothing about him. Yes, she knew about his past, his pains, his irritating habits, his favourite drink, his unconscious gestures, his phobias, his- but...

Maybe she _did_ know some things about him after all.

In the end, she still couldn't get him to explain why he was so afraid of fishes no matter how hard she tried (He insisted he wasn't _afraid_ , but it was due to hate. He emphasized that there was a vast difference between the two words, not like she cared).

The countless topics, the endless conversation... It was as if they were friends since they were born, yet she never once openly think that he was her friend. _Just colleagues. Just colleagues. Just colleagues._ Maybe if she tried ten times harder in reciting that chant in her head, it could have worked.

Though, she occasionally wondered what he saw her as too.

She turned to her side and stared at Kaito, wondering why he was so quiet all of the sudden. One of his arm had sprawled out and was acting like a pillow for his head, while the other hand was loosely clutching onto his seventh glass of liquor. His lips were parted, eyes were close, and the colour of the clear blue sea was gone. Hiroshi once told her that he hadn't been drinking much, so were seven glasses considered lesser, or actually his usual amount? She shrugged to herself.

Her eyes fell onto his black coat hanging on his chair. It was raining this morning before work, hence his unusual addition of attire today. She liked the way it made his shoulders look broader, but the high collar also covered his nape and part of his tousled hair, something she inwardly disapproved. That wasn't main point. She shifted in her chair and lifted the coat to cover his body, spreading it neatly to make sure every inch of him was covered and he wouldn't catch a cold. She smiled satisfying at her deed and crossed her arms, laying them on the counter before resting one side of her cheeks on it, her head facing him.

When had she seen his peaceful face before? Heck, she probably never seen him slept, despite all the stakeouts and overnight meetings. It was like he was never tired, ever. How did he even do that?

But here he was, for the first time so exposed and vulnerable. Her reason for drinking was to get herself a good night rest, so was it the same case for Kaito? She wondered what the reasons behind his visits to the bar were. To pick up girls? Get drunk? Treat Hiroshi as Jii? Another question she would ask him, _if_ they could spend a day like this together again.

Her lips unknowingly curled up.

Mysteriously, her own eyes became tired and she closed them for a minute, or so she thought. She could still hear the melody of the music, the clinking of glasses, and even if she was seeing darkness under her eyelids, the image of Kaito lying beside her burnt clear in her mind. That was why when she opened her eyes again, she almost thought she had teleported to somewhere else when she couldn't see anything familiar, even though the similar melody of the music and clinking of glasses was still echoing in her ears.

Aoko straightened her back drowsily and felt a slight ache on her cheek, the side where she rested on her arms. Her beer was still there, but the seat beside her was empty, the glasses that Kaito drank from were gone... And same for him. Every traces and evidences to prove he was here with her for the night disappeared like air, with no way for her to confirm her doubts and suspicion. She frowned dishearteningly.

Was it all a dream?

It was then she felt something slipped off her shoulders and she turned over to look, to find the black coat she remembered putting over Kaito pooling at the back of her seat. She twisted her body back and tentatively reached out for the source of her warmth, touching the soft material between her fingers. This was definitely Kaito's coat. It was real. Everything was real.

So it wasn't a dream.

The cool night was nice to enjoy and Aoko find no point in _borrowing_ his coat for the second time, so she placed it over her arm and walked all the way back home. She didn't need to remember his warmth, or his scent, or his-

When she reached home, the first thing she did was to sigh at the sight of the flipflops she placed next to her bedside desk, yet to be returned to the owner after so many months. It wasn't on purpose. She earned enough to afford even nicer shoes and there was no need for her to keep his slippers for the sake of saving those couple of bucks, but she was always the least awake and most forgetful early in the morning, and he didn't even remind or ask it back from her. So the flipflops stayed at its faithful place since forever, like it an artefact, like it always belonged there, like it was _meant_ to be there.

While rummaging through her wardrobe, she realized a little too late that all her clothes hanger were all used up. Having no choice, she attempted to caress all the crease away before spreading the coat out and hung it over a chair.

 _That'll do._

She headed to her bathroom to wash up for the night.

The next day, she returned home back from work and groaned to herself for forgetting to return his belongings _again_.

And again.

And repeats.

It wasn't a cheap pen, or a worthless paper. It was a coat, an expensive kind that he could use countless times for many occasions. But like again, he never once prompted her for it ever since that night, as if he had forgotten. Same for Aoko, not until when she returned home to slap a hand to her forehead and chided herself for her forgetfulness again.

Two weeks later, she stopped thinking about it altogether.

His coat and flipflops stayed with her, like a lingering presence that gave her comfort in her sleep.

.o.

"Are you free now?"

The passing houses and trees were no longer any of Aoko's interest as she turned her head away from the window and stared at Kaito, his eyes focused on the road and lips as thin as line. She almost thought she was hearing things if he didn't bother to give her a little glance to prompt her for an answer.

They were on their way back to the headquarters after solving a murder case in a local museum they were tasked to assist by the headquarters since they were nearby; A stab to the heart by the husband because he was vengeful towards his adulterous wife. It didn't take them long to find and handover the murderer to other on-duty police officers, so if they pretended they were still on the case instead of going back to their office straight afterwards, they could spend more than two hours of lunch break instead of one. How wonderful wouldn't that be?! That was what Aoko was expecting Kaito to say the moment he started the car, but he didn't and was uncharacteristically silent throughout the drive. He didn't even tune in to his annoying choice of music.

And now he was asking if she was free...? Of course she wasn't free, why did he bother to ask? It was still working hours now, wasn't it?

"Yeah, I'm free."

 _What am I even saying?!_

"Can you come to a place with me?"

He rarely requests anything from her, unless they were for his own selfish and childish benefits and wasn't something serious. Even if he was bleeding in her arms, he wouldn't even ask her to call an ambulance for him but would say _I'm fine. Just a little slash in the stomach, not a stab. Won't kill me._ She wasn't speaking hypothetically. It happened.

But he didn't sound the way he was now. She quirked an eyebrow, curiosity overwhelmed her. "Where?"

Poker-face.

"My parents' grave."

Her mouth opened wide, still shocked until she finally found her sense back to say something, anything.

"I've never met them before." _What a smart thing to say, Nakamori Aoko._

"You didn't." He scoffed. "But there's something I want to talk to you about."

They've talked about a lot of things before in many kind of places; in the car, in the office, in the bar and even in his house. She'd seen many rare and distinct sides of him when they conversed in these different places, but his parent's graves was the last place she ever thought she would ever be talking with Kaito at. She wondered which part of him he was going to show to her this time round.

Still, why?

 _Why at your parents' graves?_

She didn't question but nodded. She could literally feel the tension sap out from his body. He made a turn on the road and began driving down the streets of unfamiliarity.

.o.

It was nearly an hour ride to the graveyard, and another hour ride back to the office would mean she couldn't have her lunch if she wanted to be a good officer who sticks to the one-hour lunch time rule. Screw that. This was more important. And her empty stomach too.

There were dirt and dirt leaves littered all around the place, but she noted none of it touched any parts of the graves' areas. Everyone was responsible enough to take care for their loved ones' graves, and from the fresh flowers that Aoko noticed as she passed by, there were still visitors who came despite how isolated this area was from town, or in fact anywhere else. She clasped her hands together and lowered her head to give her silent respects to the deceased, her eyes focusing on the back of Kaito's heels as he continued to lead the way quietly. She clicked her tongue a little too late when she realized she had came empty handed and chided herself inwardly for the impoliteness, although honestly, she couldn't focus her thoughts ever since Kaito suggested this little _trip._ Buying flowers was the last thing on her mind during the car ride.

They stopped after strolling a distance away and stood before two graves stones that marked the names Aoko knew before she had to see. She slightly bowed her head in prayers.

"Don't be so stiff. Say hello." Kaito offered a smile, but not to her. "It's not every day you can meet the legendary Kaitou Kid and his wife."

She swore her neck almost snapped when she turned towards him. Her eyes blinked rapidly in disbelief, though it didn't affect him and his calm features remained the same. He was always complaining about her fluttering eyelashes during investigation, but this time round, he didn't seem like he cared.

"Yo-You knew?" She continued, in a sad and stuttering tone. "Since... When?"

"A bit after Jii died. Everything since the day I joined the force and knew the existence of the record's room." He turned away, hands dug deep into his pockets. "The great Sherlock Holmes thinks I'm dumb. He should have known better." He tilted his head towards her, a little mockingly. " _You_ should have known better too."

"We _should have_." Aoko glowered before her face fell lax. "But how did you know I knew?"

"It isn't difficult." He drawled.

Oh wow. That explained _a lot_. But she had many questions in mind and was too impatient to stay and pester him for the current answer, so before she knew it, words were already spilling out from her mouth. Bad interrogation skills. Kaito would've complained.

"There's no way you can go inside the record's room without Inspector Kudo's knowledge. There's strict security and supervision." She almost exclaimed, remembering that day when she was caught red-handed just ten minutes into her treasure hunting adventure. "Unless you've transformed into someone else and used that identity to get in without anyone knowing it's you." She mindlessly said, with a roll of her eyes to herself for thinking about something so stupid. That would require _some_ magic.

He let out a sharp breath that almost resembled a laugh. "I wonder."

"W-Wait." She frowned at his suspicious reaction. "Don't tell me you-"

"Don't ask question to answers you don't want to hear."

Yeah, she learnt that lesson a lot of times before. Her part lips slowly closed and she retreated back to her quiet shell and stared down at the graves before her. Her mother wasn't killed, and she was sure her father would have a long life ahead of him, but _if_ they happened to be in the same circumstances as Kuroba's parents, _if_ she was in his shoes and she realized all the truth, she couldn't imagine her staying silent and accepting all the facts like that. She would do everything to bring the murderer down no matter what she needed to do. She thought Kaito would have done the same, or even went greater lengths to do it... But why was he still here? Why was he-

"Since you knew, why didn't you... do anything? For so long?" She shouldn't ask questions when she didn't want to know the answer, but this was not one of them. She wanted to know this answer more than anything else.

He shrugged, apathetic. She knew he cared more than that, but he always choose to approach the world with nonchalance as a defence machinist because he thought showing his feelings to others was a great weakness. She wished she could change his view about that one day.

"I've considered becoming the ghost of my father and revive the Phantom Thief, more than once." He gave a faint smile, almost invisible if she didn't look hard enough. "It was _especially_ tempting during the Ichiya Sawako's case."

Ichiya Sawako, the murderer of the five dead magicians because of one tragic history in her life. This was one of the most significant case Aoko ever came across. Not just for realizing how human's nature could be so terrifying, she also get to know about Kaito so much more, in a way she wasn't sure if she was welcomed or allowed to. But he already knew the truth, and heck, she never realized this secret meant so much to her, until now when she could feel an invisible mountain disappeared from her shoulders.

"I can hunt the people who killed my family and lure them out easily this way." He continued through the silence. "I can do many things with that identity. But I don't want to."

"Don't want...?" She dumbly echoed.

Kaito took out a hand from his pocket and waved, a rose appearing between his fingers. His magic tricks had been appearing more and more frequent, and despite how she clearly remembered him telling her he didn't want to touch magic again, she wasn't intending to remind him that. She liked that very brief satisfaction look on his face when he did those little tricks, most of the time was to coax young children to cooperate with him in certain situations, and she didn't want him to stop.

He placed the rose on the ground and his hand disappeared inside his pocket again. "My father became Kaitou Kid, for who knows what reason, I'll probably never know. I was too young to understand, and probably he thought he would still have more time before he'll explain and pass his _legacy_ to me." He shrugged again, his eyes grew distant. "But no matter what that reason was, I don't want to repeat his mistake of taking up that identity that ruined the supposedly normal life of a family of three. I don't want Kaitou Kid to steal away my life _again_. I don't want it to take away the things I love too."

"Take away... The things you love?" She realized she had been just repeating whatever he said, but it was these words that didn't get to her. He already lost his whole family, so who else was there that was alive on this planet for him to love? Had she missed out someone on the list? A girlfriend? A distant relative? W-Wait a minute. She was totally missing out the main point of whatever Kaito was trying to say-!

Aoko wasn't sure if he was thinking the same, but even if he did, he didn't mention it. He simply glanced at her with that usual, plain, poker face before looking down at the grave stones, almost _as if_ he was avoiding his gaze. It was a rare, but familiar moment she remembered feeling and seeing before. Was it the time during her first heavy-makeup baiting incident or was it the time when he offered her flipflops and gave her a ride back home? Oh boy, those incidents happened ages ago, yet it stayed in her mind just as fresh, like it happened only yesterday.

"The point is, being Kaitou Kid was a choice, but I decided not to choose it." Kaito glanced up and looked up at the sky. She noted he didn't answer her question, but it was alright. She followed his gaze and stared at the fluffy clouds hovering above them too. He continued. "There are better alternatives, like this one. Being a detective isn't bad. Although there's many restrictive, it actually hides my identity from those murderers as the Kaitou Kid's son much better than _hiding_ behind the monocle and hat. It's stupid, and it'll expose myself to greater danger. Why that?"

 _Why that?_ Aoko wondered scornfully. She thought he'd always loved being stupid and expose himself to great danger every time. Those sarcastic thoughts died away when she focused her attention on him again. Nonetheless, she was sincerely glad that something within him made him stay, no matter if his reasons was right or wrong. If everyone was to leave Division 1 and Kaito was the only one who remained, she would selfishly accept and be glad about it. His presence meant a lot, no matter how she refused to admit it to anyone and even herself sometimes.

"Then if being Kaitou Kid was just a choice, and being a police detective was a better alternative... Does that mean you are going to continue what you are doing now?"

"Yes and no." He glanced away from the blue sky and down at her. "The reason I brought you here today wasn't for you to hear my sob story or learn some new fun facts about me." He blinked carefully, the hint of playfulness in his eyes was completely gone. "I want you to help me in this."

 _H-Help?_

"Do you trust me?" He added after a pause. His tone contained no trace of mockery; the question sounded as pure and sincere as it was.

"I-" Aoko swallowed hard, her body tensed on its own. "I should be the one asking you this! Y-You trust me to help you?"

"What do you think?" He scoffed before a grin plastered on his face.

"I don't know. That's why I asked." She muttered.

This time round, he laughed. She watched him chortle behind the back of his hand and catching his breath. She was secretly doing the same, trying to find back the energy to breathe like a normal human should, although there was quite some difficulty doing so after witnessing something as magical as his laughter.

He wiped an invisible tear from his eyes. "You have some self-esteem issues there, Ahouko."

"You've asked the same question!" She growled.

"Maybe I do have some self-esteem issues, about _you_." He brushed away his own words like a joke and shrugged again. "You're one unique creature."

"C-Creature?!"

"Yeah. Creature."

"That's not a question!"

His confidence and ego was of the highest level she ever saw in a human. What nonsense- He had self-esteem issues?! And again, he hadn't answered her question! She sighed grudgingly and half-glared him. "When you dragged me to the road and asked me to get into the cab nearly two years ago, there's a reason why I decided to get in."

He blinked and straightened his back, his laughter had died away and everything about his cheerful demeanor was gone, only leaving his clear blue eyes staring deeply in hers with his trademark poker-face. Being in this weird circumstances and a place where one should feel nothing but remorse and sadness, Aoko felt the complete opposite. All the dying old trees were gone, grey grave stones fading away... And only Kaito became the main focus of her sight. He was simply standing there with that exact gaze, looking at her so seriously yet sincerely at the same time.

Her heart dissolved into a cloud of butterflies that battered against her chest wall, trying to get out. She swallowed hard and tried to get her heart beating again. The first step to do it was to look away and it took her all the nerves in her body to do so. _Oh God..._ Aoko inwardly thought she needed to get her brains, eyes, mental health, heart, chest, lungs and _everything_ checked by a doctor soon.

"I see."

She gave him a side long glance at his short answer and pouted mildly. _I see. I see? That's it?_ To think that she mustered some bit of courage in her to admit something to him and the reply she got was only this. Bakaito.

"So," he spoke again and fully faced her. "You'll help me?"

Had she not been clear enough? Although she had no idea what kind of obstacles and troubles she would end up with or what his plan of actions would be, she always wanted to help that little boy named Kuroba Kaito in the picture when she first saw the family of three. She wanted to see that special radiance in his eyes again and now this was her chance in getting close to that goal. She turned to face him too. "Yeah. Of course I will."

He pressed his part lips together to form a smile. "Thanks."

Saying _you're welcome_ sounded too formal, but not saying anything might understate her willingness to help him. So she decided to return his smile back with her little grin, hoping it was enough.

His smile faltered and his signature gaze was back.

 _Why..._

She didn't dislike it, but this image was not found in the gallery of the Wikipedia she written in her head about him, so she just couldn't understand what his facial expression meant, which was awfully frustrating. He had never look like that before, not at his favourite coffee, or a puzzling case, or a troublesome criminal, or the sad and crying wife of the victim or anything else, but her. Only her.

 _Why is he looking at me like this...?_

All of the sudden, a loud growl interrupted the peaceful silence between them.

 _Oh... My... God..._

Heat began creeping from the back of her neck to her cheeks, reddening her entire face in mere seconds. Kaito carried a completely different kind of mask now. It was a pure judgmental look.

"Um... I-" Of all times, why did her stomach growl now?! For some reason or another, Kaito was always around to witness those embarrassing parts of her life, much to her annoyance. Her stomach betrayed her again and growled for the second time and she rubbed her abdomen sheepishly and gritted her teeth.

Kaito shook his head. "You're such an embarrassment."

"W-What?! You can't expect me to control the noise or something!"

He didn't explain and turned his back towards her, heading to another direction. "There's a couple of nice food stands just a drive away. Trust me, one of the Ramen stall is good."

"W-Wait." She bowed at the graves for one last time and quickly caught up with his strides. "Good to know there's food somewhere. Let's get going."

"What else do you want to eat? There's an Okonomiyaki stand too. I'll let you choose this time. Perks of being my little junior."

She scoffed. How honourable. "We'll go with the Ramen stall you said."

He grinned. "Okay."

If she had a chance to rewind the time back to when Shinichi gave her Konosuke Jii's file, she wouldn't hesitate to take the cab again when Kaito asked her to. Not because she already knew he had an alibi during Jii's death from the case file or that he was innocent, it was _something_ more than that. What she would change were those actions she did to make his confidence of thinking she trusted him to sway.

As for her, she didn't need him to jump between her and a gun or having to be in a do-or-die situation to show and determine the level of trust she had in him. If he said the Ramen was good, she would definitely want to try it, because she believed his words. It sounded silly, but simple and little moments like that, for Aoko, was enough.


	7. Control

Circle of Fate

7: Control

* * *

Even if Aoko was eating the most delicious supper in the universe, or was probably in the middle of an episode when the two main characters broke up or one was dying in the other's arm, she would stop all of it and head to sleep when it was time. It made her sound like a good child who followed their strict bedtime routine, but ever since her transfer, she realized how tragically important it was to have time for a good night rest and she wouldn't trade anything else for it.

Same for now.

She nearly flipped upside down when she glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall and realized the hour hand was pointing halfway towards five. She would be happy if it was five in the late afternoon and soon to be the time when they would officially knocked off if there wasn't a murder case popping out at the last minute, but it was in the morning. Five. In the morning. It was a new record. She never expect herself to stay at his home till so late, ever. _His_ home.

Kaito's home.

"I need to sleep." She groaned and dumped the pieces of papers she was previously reading onto the ground, now mixed along with the other piles of papers. She would end up regretting it later when she had to separate them accordingly again, but for now, it was the least of her worries.

Sitting across her on the floor, Kaito stared at her with an odd mix of disgust and amusement. "You look like you just died."

"Yeap, that's definitely the look I was going for this Halloween." Aoko scowled. She was still fine when she was halfway through reading a few suspicious cases of theft that had some vague similarity with the dead Kaitou Kid's heists, until she noted of the time and the weariness magically kicked in. She couldn't bother to filter her words. Not for him, anyway. "Can you drive me back home?"

"For what?"

"To feed my non-existent cat." She rolled her eyes. "Of course to sleep!"

"Just sleep here." He waved a hand nonchalantly and pointed at the little pool of white mess in front of them.

"You want me to sleep on the ground with the papers?" She remarked wryly.

He considered for a moment and she gave him a warning look to remind him of those bad days she had and how he had to go through with her, even if his rank was technically higher than hers. She wasn't nicknamed as a little-tiger-kitten without a reason. He didn't seem impress with her glares and simply returned her a lazy smile. He was probably as tired as her, or even more, but he was always better than her at not showing it.

"You can sleep in the room." He jabbed a thumb behind his back, pointing at a closed door behind him. "It's a waste of time to send you home."

True enough.

Other than the living room and the kitchen, Aoko never go anywhere beyond than that. She was always focused with her reading and work and she thought of honouring that privilege he had given only to her to step into his home by respecting his privacy. Besides, she was sure she wouldn't be able to explore every inch of the house even if she tried. The most she had saw with the secret button that flipped his TV wall and revealed a big and secretive whiteboard behind it during Ichiya Sawako's case, and she wouldn't be surprised if there were more tricks and hidden rooms in this house.

For now, she wasn't feeling curious or enthralled by the chance. She just wanted her sleep.

Aoko clawed her way off the ground she had been sitting for hours and trudged towards the door and opened it. She would have smiled gratefully at the sight of the large bed if she didn't realize this was actually Kaito's bedroom. She didn't know how or why, but she just... knew.

She glanced over her shoulder and gazed at the back of his messy lock of hair. "Don't you have a guest room?" She wouldn't have been so enthusiastic if she knew it was his room she was going to sleep in. Not like she had anything to complain, but...

"No." Kaito drawled. "It's the only room I can spare."

"Um." Her grip around the doorknob tightened. "This is _your_ room."

He finally turned away from the papers he'd been focusing on and looked at her with that annoying grin on his face. "I'm not going to sleep with you, if that's what you're worrying."

"T-That's not what I'm implying."

"Of course not." His smile still remained strong and he returned his attention onto the papers again.

Aoko bit her lips and tilted her head back into the dim-lit room, only the light outside helped to illuminate the nice and comfortable darkness inside, which would make a perfect setting for her to sleep in an instant. She contemplated for a few more seconds before walking in and closing the door behind her, her decision made. Of course she was going to choose sleep over whatever dignity she had left within her.

There was nothing much in the bedroom, just the large bed, a dressing cabinet and a bedside table to go with it; too simple but enough for a man like Kaito to live with. She plopped onto the soft bed and fell onto her back, the perfect sheets had wrinkled and outlined the shape of her body. The mattress was just as comfortable as it looked and if she managed to get the grumpiness out of her system after some rest, she would ask him for the brand.

It was weird to be lying here and being in the place where Kaito shed all his defence mechanism and his annoying attitude and just recharge for the next day and the cycle repeats. The same ceiling they stared at, the faint humming sound they heard coming from the heater... It was as if she was living as Kaito for a moment, and for some reason she couldn't understand, she felt _lonely_.

Shaking away the unnecessary and probably irrelevant thoughts, Aoko crawled further up and wrapped herself around the white sheets and set her head on the pillow, just as soft as fluffy as she wished. Maybe it was due to her fatigue, but this was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept on, even better than her own. The space could fit three of her size, and the warmth under the duvet, the scent-

The scent.

Like the perfect combination of natural oils, soft sweet warmth... It somehow made her forget everything she had researched and read for the past few hours, which was truly satisfying despite how distraught it would be if it truly happened. She could feel herself float, her brain relax and then-

The scent grew stronger...

She fell asleep.

It seemed like only a second had passed when she felt something brushed across her waist and she stirred in her position. She felt a crack in her back and she stretched her legs, feeling the sort of satisfaction when all the backaches and fatigue were gone. She hadn't had such a nice sleep for so long, even with the help of alcohol. She really, _really_ should ask about the brand of this mattress Kaito was using-

Oh yeah. She'd almost forgotten this wasn't her home.

Aoko peeled open her eyes and blinked a couple of times to accustom to the sudden brightness. She was facing the window, its curtains were drawn open and a ray of sunlight passing through the clear and clean glass window, helping to light up the room and giving her further warmth. She turned her head and attempted to give another stretch, but what came in her view wasn't the white sheets or the large cabinet or anything else she was _expecting_.

She froze, an inaudible squeal stuck deep inside her throat as she felt Kaito's breath on the side of her neck and his fingers slipping down her waist when she shifted in her position, which she realized was the reason why she was woken up. She should have moved away, should have pushed him away, should have done anything to stop _this_ , but what stopped for her was time. The golden sunlight bathed Kaito's miraculously flawless skin and invisible eye bags, and all he needed was to sprout two wings and he would look exactly like an angel. Everything about his features made something in Aoko's chest swirled like fire and she had no idea how long had it been as she dumbly stared his messy locks against his forehead, his long eyelashes, his parted lips, his-

His bare chest.

It was a sight to behold, but the first thought that appeared in her mind sent her jumping up from the bed and she automatically gave the loudest shriek of her life as her fist nicely landed across his jaw.

Kaito literally flew out of the bed and fell onto the floor with a groan that was equally as loud and amplifying as the heaves and pants Aoko was making. He propped an arm back onto the bed while the other hand was supporting his jaw.

"What the heck was that for? _Nakamori Aoko_."

"You-!" She was up and in her sitting position, the duvets covering up till her neck. "We-!"

"Please check before you make your stupid assumptions." He glowered and peeled his hand away from his lips, a frown etched on his face. " _Wow_ , I'm bleeding." It was true. The corner of his mouth was cracked and slightly bleeding.

She followed his suggestion and took a little nervous peek below the sheets, her cheeks blossomed when she noted how her clothes looked exactly the same as it was when she fell asleep. She hastily turned back to Kaito and he was already perched up on the corner of the bed, far away from her. She wasn't sure if the distance was intentional or not.

"I-I'm sorry." Aoko gulped. "But you scared me! Didn't you say you're not going to sleep with me?"

He sent her a look of disbelief. "I didn't mean in the literal way- Oh God, you're more innocent than I thought."

"But still-!"

"I've came to realize that the couch was uncomfortable and I want to sleep too."

"Why d-do you sleep without a shirt?!"

"And why can't I?"

"I-" Her eyes travelled from his little blood-stained mouth, to his obvious collar bones, to his bare chest, to the fine lines on his body and a couple of faint scars here and there (She was mesmerized by the long scar across his waist, resulted from the incident when Sakamoto's brother slashed his stomach), and all of the sudden, she couldn't say anything anymore.

Before she knew it, she had already scanned every corner of his chest.

And. She. Couldn't. Look. Away.

Kaito didn't seem to notice her sudden silence or stare since he was too distracted by the pain on his mouth. He winced at every touch he attempted on his wound and grudgingly gave up trying to do anything about it. He turned away from her to slip onto the shirt he abandoned on the ground, the muscles on his body twitched whenever he made the slightest movement and this beautiful sight was gone when the shirt had fully covered the _show_ Aoko was unconsciously enjoying. She cleared her throat and dumped the covers aside and stood up from the bed too, while giving a last glance down at her clothes, just to make sure she had everything on her.

"Um, do you need help?" She mustered an awkward smile and pointed at his lips. "With that."

"No." He stared at her accusingly.

They were both late, _very_ late for work by the time they got themselves ready and cleaned up the little mess of papers in the living room. The car ride was filled with silence, saved for his choice of music for the day, though it wasn't as awkward as Aoko thought it would be. Honestly speaking, she was too busy recollecting the memory of Kaito sleeping next to her and the events that followed, to the point she didn't realize they had reached the headquarters until he switched off the car's engine.

Everyone was already out for lunch and the first person they saw was Shinichi when they entered the empty office. When he took noticed of their presence, Aoko felt like a late student about to get disciplined by the head master. It was sort of an exaggeration, but that was honestly how she felt even though Shinichi carried no stern expression on his face. Instead, he looked intrigued with whatever thought he was thinking about.

"You two came together?"

"Uh, yeah." Aoko tentatively approached her desk and rummaged through a drawer to find some clean clothes she had kept as spares. Kaito sat on his own chair, impassive as ever.

"What happened to you?" Shinichi approached a little closer to the two of them, but his eyes were on Kaito. Unable to help it, Shinichi let out a sharp breath that resembled a laugh.

Kaito didn't return the expression. "Got attacked by a bear."

"I'm _not_ a bear." Aoko snapped, anger slowly rising within her as she hugged the clean clothes against her chest. "You shouldn't have slept with me in the first place."

Silence.

"Wait, I mean-" She raised both hands and gave a frantic wave, her clothes dropped onto her desk. "I'm fully dressed while I was sleeping."

Shinichi quirked an eyebrow. "...Okay?"

Kaito pinched the bridge of his nose. "This incident doesn't require a report."

She was too tongue-tied to find any words to retort. Instead, she found a better solution by running away as she gave a loud awkward laugh and rushed to the restroom with the clothes in her hands. She spent nearly half an hour inside just to let her face turn back to its original colour.

 _Ugh._

She was donned in her new clothes and back in the office, just in time before the rest of her colleagues returned and questioned her about her attire if it had remained the same. Kaito, however, was gone and one of his drawers where he kept some band aid was slightly opened, so it wasn't difficult to guess where he probably went. But her thoughts came to a stop when she noted a packet of chicken sandwich and a can of coffee from the vending machine on her desk.

Aoko almost forgotten she had yet to have her breakfast and lunch.

When Kaito returned with a band aid by his lips, it made Aoko feel a bit more sorry than she already was. But she hadn't got the chance to repeat her apology when everyone was called in for a meeting about a murder case their team was suddenly tasked to handle. There were a few people who inquired about his injury while they were in the midst of investigating, but he never once blame her or mention her name. Not sure if it was to protect his or her honour.

The following meet-up sessions for the help he requested from her were back to normal and they continued their private investigations and sharing insight theories with what they could find like usual, as if that stupid incident never, ever happened. They weren't close to the truth about his parents and Konosuke Jii's death yet, but they both knew they were on the right track and that hadn't change. The only thing that changed for her was the uncontrollable urge to randomly stare at his chest once in a while.

.o.

Having to thank the stress and her poor diet as of late, Aoko called in sick, her first _off-day_ since months.

She was _resting_ at home but also ironically in the middle of doing her research on the computer with two tissues stuck in her nose when her phone suddenly rang. She was half doubting if it was bad news from the headquarters, and there was nothing remarkable about that (If your Business is bad news, some part of you is always waiting for the phone to ring). But the thought died away when the number that showed on the screen was unknown and she contemplated a few moments before answering. If it was some fraud or prank calls, she would definitely give them an earful and track them down. Blame them for ruining her moment of concentration.

"Hello?"

"Good evening." A gentle and sweet female voice said. "Are you Nakamori Aoko?"

"Yes I am." She had kept in mind that she hadn't participated in any raffle recently.

"Kuroba Kaito had been admitted to the hospital and he have put you under his emergency contacts." The lady spoke in a calm manner, like she was used to this job since forever. But Aoko wasn't.

"W-W-What?"

"We'll like you to make your way to the hospital to-"

"Which hospital?!"

In a split second after the answer, Aoko dumped her tissues aside, switched out from her home clothes and hastily dashed out of her house with the worst hair she could ever have. Her boots were halfway done, her face bare and pale from her sickness and she jumped into a cab before even checking if she had brought out her purse. Luckily she did.

The hospital was exceptionally packed that night, though with the accident so serious and severe, it wasn't a surprise since this was the nearest hospital around the district. A gas station had exploded, the reason was still unknown, but that didn't matter. It already happened anyway, Kaito taught her that. Nothing could change even if the reason was known. What mattered was-

Aoko was standing in the lobby, her head spinning as she managed to spot a small television hanging at the corner while the incident was being reported LIVE. She tried to ignore a doctor who was talking to a heavily pregnant lady and looking like she was about to faint. She tried to disregard the fact that a couple were sitting on the chairs and crying into each other sleeves. She tried to block out the voices of wailing children, the groaning men, the wheeling of the beds and the nurses' frantic footsteps as they dashed past the hall. She tried to focus. To focus.

She couldn't hear the news, but she could read the bold words at the bottom of the screen

4 deceased. 29 injured.

It was hard to breathe.

After taking a few deep breaths and trying to regain back her composure, her legs wobbled over to the counter and she leaned heavily against the counter and a nurse looked up at her with a knowing smile.

"Kaito."

"I'm sorry, I need the full name."

"Kaito." Her voice cracked and it felt like a painful stab in her throat. "Kuroba Kaito." She said tearfully, at the same time trying to _not_ realize that she had never called Kaito by his name before. It was silly, but she couldn't help but feel a pang of regret for not doing so. She even called Inspector Kudo as Shinichi sometimes.

The nurse typed something on her computer and Aoko was trying her best to be as cooperative and patient as she could, but there wasn't a need anymore when she heard a faint voice calling out for her.

For her name.

"Aoko."

Her back straightened and she spun around, her eyes scanning across the hall and fell upon the most infuriating and annoying man she knew, who she never once thought that seeing his presence would ever make her feel like she just jumped over the moon. She gaped at him, and thanked all the God that answered her prayers that he was standing, alive, with only a bandage around his left arm. His attire was dirtied, hair as messy as usual but everything else was unscathed.

"Kaito!" Her eyes had turned moist, but she inwardly blamed it was the flu. "You- You're-" She cupped a hand over her mouth, abandoned the counter and skipped down towards the corridor and to where he was. He helped to close the distance a little, but she reached to him faster.

"Hey."

"You're alive."

"What? Are you disappointed?" He smirked, in a way that Aoko wanted to punch him as hard as the day she found him on the bed with her. But she forgave him, quietly in her heart, because he did his part to be alive for himself, and for her.

She choked a little. "What happened?"

"Long story short. I was lucky." He muttered before gazing at the crying and gloomy crowd in the middle of the waiting area. "Very lucky."

"I'm glad you're alright." Aoko couldn't resist the urge and touch the white thin cloth on his arm, caressing it with her thumb. "I was worried, really."

Kaito stared at her hand and showed a soft smile. "Thanks for worrying." She would have retorted if he sounded sarcastic, but he didn't. He said it, in a way that made her feel he really did and she had no idea how to respond to that. Her hand returned to her side.

"Anyway, why are you here?" He looked at her with a small frown, his cute demeanour had disappeared. "Are you that sick that you needed to come to the hospital?"

So he didn't know she was here, for _him_. All the better, for her to hide the fact that she was growing more and more concern for his well-being every day. But she didn't care about hiding it anymore. She didn't want to regret again. "I'm on your emergency contact. How can I not?"

"Oh." Kaito blinked and scratched the back of his neck. Nervous didn't suit him at all. "I-"

"It's alright." She gave him a reassuring look, clearly understanding. There wasn't anyone else he could put anyway. "I don't mind too."

He brushed past that conversation and moved on as he began to inspect his injured arm. "Trust the hospital to overreact about my injury and waste your time and _my_ time, again."

This was more like the Kaito she knew. She rolled her eyes, knowing better than to start an argument here.

"Let me pay my bills and get my stupid medications then I'll send you home." He moved towards the registration counter and Aoko followed closely behind him, her head tilted in confusion.

"Your car...?"

He sighed heavily. "Dead. We'll be taking the cab."

For some odd reason, she liked the pronoun he used.

Instead of accompanying him in the miserable long queue and hearing more of his complains, she took a seat beside an old lady at the waiting area. Aoko thought she could be one of the victim's family member and attempted to strike up a polite conversation, intending to help with whatever she could. To put bluntly, it was a job habit. To put it in another way, it was because she cared.

The old lady shared that her son, too, was in the queue for the bill. Aoko smiled with relief.

"Is that your boyfriend?" The old lady chuckled, gesturing her head and angled it in a way that was obviously referring to Kaito.

"Oh, uh. No." Aoko waved a hand.

"I see the way you looked at him a while ago."

"We're friends, that's all."

"He must be an important friend."

Her lips tugged. "I guess so."

She could have been amused that of all the things she had, he would be egoistic enough to jokingly assume that he was the most important, but really, he wasn't altogether wrong. He was tied in with her work, with the confidence she had in herself and everything that mattered to her. Her personal life was a bore, and all she had was her job. And him. He made everything what it was. She didn't want to lose him.

Not now, not ever.

.o.

Maybe her life wasn't _exactly_ a bore. Perhaps more like a soap opera disguised as reality.

She was the lead actress, under the dark rainy sky with a man, so handsome and fit and his wet shirt clinging tightly against his body. How romantic. How beautiful. How marvellous as they hugged and started professing their undying love for each other.

The first sentence was true, the rest were bullshit.

It was drizzling, but being under the rain for so long, she was entirely drenched. Aoko had been running around the field, up an empty building and finally stopped at the end of an open roof with a man, so handsome and fit with his wet shirt clinging tightly against his body, as quoted. There was no way she would ever admit that out loud, though.

"I'm out of bullets." Kaito laughed dryly and stuffed his worthless gun back to its place before observing the blackness below.

"I'm left with three." Aoko sniffed.

Three, against a horde of men in ugly-coloured trench coats and the poorest style of moustaches.

It happened that there was a new lead they've found since a month ago after much investigation and digging up old cases, not just from the records room, but from files that belonged to Aoko's previous department she worked with and also her father's Division too. So they've discovered this sneaky group of thieves that had existed for many years and enjoyed recklessly using guns and bullets as their method of stealing big jewels, yet strangely, they were not after its monetary value _but something else_ (They always toss the prize somewhere nearby afterwards). It was that bit of information they needed to finish the puzzle, but this was the furthest they could go after infuriating that said bunch of criminals by disrupting their plan of stealing just a while ago. After much running and chasing, both of them had split up from the original squad belonging under Division three, which was in charge of capturing these criminals and they were now stuck on this roof with no where to go but down. Down the ten-storey building.

How could her life be a bore?

But it wasn't like she hadn't been in such do-or-die situation before. Her life ever since she became a police detective gave her certain benefits like that to _enjoy_ , and also a trip to the hospital and finally getting back some of her money from the insurance company. It was something particular about now that was different. Maybe it was the rain, or the fact that her insurance didn't cover events that weren't involved in _official_ police work, or because they were far from any hospital she could think of, or maybe because she realized she was kind of screwed. _They_ were kind of screwed.

She had met her father recently for dinner, and she was so glad she bid him goodbye and told him she loved him. It was the best decision she ever made, one that she decided out of the wimp because she remembered the incident when she thought Kaito was possibly dead and had grown to appreciate every second of the people around her. Her father was the first to experience this phase, and probably the last. She felt her eyes stung.

And then she raised her head and scrutinized Kaito who was standing beside her and his face masked with this thoughtful expression as he stared out at the open.

Her father won't be the last after all.

"I have something I want to tell you." She destroyed the weird, peaceful moment between them.

But Kaito was distracted by the sky, for who knows what reason, Aoko didn't know. She wished she could understand what he was thinking at the moment.

"There's something I need to ask you too." He spoke. "Are you af-"

"I think I like you."

 _Pitter-Patter_

His calculative stare disappeared as he glanced away from the darkness above them and dropped his gaze down at her with a blank look that revealed nothing of his thoughts. The way his black hair was sticking against his face, water running down his face and dripping droplets by droplets from his chin... She was surveying him like a masterpiece, and it was beginning to scare her with how obsessive she was with his features that she was confident that she could sketch it all out even if her drawings skills had never improved since kindergarten.

She was staring. Staring... She could feel herself staring at him, the same way he always... stared at her.

He, for once, looked officially and utterly dumbfounded. "...What?"

"I think-" Aoko tightened her hand around her gun's grip and bit the inside of her cheeks. The rain was seeping into her eyes, blurring her sight even worse than her original tears. "I think I like you."

The silence was interrupted by the sudden loud banging against the roof door. The lock was stuck, courtesy to Kaito's trickery, but it wouldn't be able to withstand any much longer with the massive strength they were using to rip the door apart.

"This shit." He turned away from the ruckus, lips curled down. "Damn it."

She reeled and felt like melting into the rain from the heat burning her skin with humiliation. All the hurt, disappointment and nasty emotions she never expect her confession would bring about suddenly overwhelmed her entire body and she squeezed her hands tight till the gun in her hand was shaking terribly. What on earth was she even thinking, to blurt out her foolish feelings in this situation? Oh God. Everything suddenly felt so wrong. Everything felt so stupid. She was so stupid.

Her first, ever confession-

Just great. _Just great._

But if Aoko wasn't so focused on trying to hide the embarrassment she was feeling now, she would have noticed Kaito's raised arm that was about to reach to her face had fell back to his side. Instead, he downgraded his attempt and reached out for her trembling hands, causing her to flinch at the touch like a burn, but it miraculously calmed her down like some kind of drug in a millisecond.

"I think I need to postpone that conversation first." He looked at her, his eyes glittering magically under the rain as he wrapped his hand around her palm, his fingertips were just as cold as hers. "I actually wanted to ask you if you're afraid of heights, but it's not a matter of choice anymore."

Afraid of heights? She always thought he was one insane and reckless idiot, but he really couldn't be meaning that he wanted to-

She was about to yell at his craziness, that there was no way they could survive without breaking half of their bones if they hit the ground, but all the words died in her throat and all she could give was a surprised shout when he snatched her gun, swiftly kept it in her holster for her, scooped her back and legs up and carried her in bridal style, as if she weighed a feather when he was always teasing her about her possible weight gains.

"Hold tight." Kaito whispered, his voice was the clearest thing she ever heard in her life.

Without giving her a chance to say anything, he jumped.

* * *

HELLO ok I'm not sure why but this chapter was exceptionally hard to write (it's so much better when I imagined it in my head) but first thing first, I want to thank everyone who is reading this and is _still_ willing to support it after reading this chapter. But anyway, it personally means a lot to me because this AU is probably the weirdest and complex one I've ever done. Thanks for reading and leave me a thought if you like!


	8. Mess

Circle of Fate

8: Mess

* * *

Aoko was going to die.

That was what she thought when she felt the harsh wind and light rain slapping her cheeks like a wake-up call. It did wonders, because when she dared herself to open her eyes to see what damage her body had suffered, she was instantly wide awake to see the city lights below her like stars.

Guiltily, she had spent much of her time admiring the lights before she used all her nerves to shift her head away, the only thing she could move, and stared at the white suit her cheek was leaning against. Further up was a red tie. And then the sharp Adam's apple she recognized since forever...

Her eyes shot up.

But this man wasn't Kaito. It couldn't be Kaito.

He twisted his glider and settled on roof, one that was built with safety railings and unlike the tattered building they escaped from. He angled his strong, firm arms to let her foot stepped on the ground first. She would have appreciated the thoughtful gesture of him when he'd patiently held her elbow as she stabilized her wobbly legs, but she couldn't stand the thought of having his _gloved_ hands touching her.

Aoko stepped away and let the railings do the job.

"What is this?" She finally found air inside her to speak.

It wasn't supposed to be a question. She wasn't blind. She knew from the pictures she'd seen. She knew from the newspaper clippings her father had kept till today. She knew from all the research she had done. She _knew_. But he answered, for the sake of it.

"Kaitou Kid." He muttered, his voice was too soft in the rain.

She stared at him. She _glared_ at him. How _dare_ he, actually replying her like it meant _nothing_. Her fingers grasped onto the cold metal support, so tightly she thought her hand might just pass through. Her mouth hung open, preparing to speak, but her heavy heart couldn't let anything out.

 _What... the hell is going on? What does this mean?_

He cast a glance over his shoulder before looking at her. "I need to go back."

The five words magically fueled her the energy she needed to burst. "A-Are you insane?! You can't go back!" She exclaimed, her hands waving all around her body like a confused child. It really wasn't any different.

"The truth is there. _They_ are there." Everything was so white about him. So... Justice-like. "I _need_ to go back."

"Then what about _me?_ " She roared across the roof. It could have been mistaken as the thunder.

He looked unfazed by the whole situation, which made Aoko really wish she could land a slap across his cheek. But he stood far away from her, and by the time she reached over to him, she wasn't sure if she still had the willpower or energy to even lift her arm. He looked just like a distress dog being left alone in the rain and Aoko had no idea if he was pitying her _or_ himself, but she thought only she had the rights to show that expression when she was currently the one being abandoned. _This cruel-_

"I can't let you be involved any deeper." He snapped his gaze away from her, looking exhausted and deflated all of the sudden. "It's a mistake."

"A mistake?" Aoko fought back the tears that treacherously brimmed. "You asked me if I trusted you, and I _did_. Now you're saying it's all a mistake? What? Because I trusted you or the other way round?"

"Listen, I-" His lips suddenly curled down and an emotion flickered in his eyes, one that was so strong even his monocle and the shadow of his tall hat couldn't hide. "Hey. Please don't cry."

"I'm _not_ crying." She choked. Oh God, how much embarrassment was she going to take today?

Maybe the headlines for tomorrow news would state that pigs had learnt how to fly because for _once_ , he didn't argue with her. "I'm sorry."

He was sorry? Was he trying to make a joke out of her? She sniffed, her throat tightened and she felt determined to not let her emotions be swayed by his words, _again_. Instead, she sent a glare that almost sparked a fire.

"You're a _liar_."

"I didn't lie." He was visibly struggling to say something, but what came out was a softer echo. "I didn't lie when I said I want your help."

Despite her effort to raise her head and let her tears stay in her eyes, it still flowed down her cheeks like waterfall. The rain had helped to camouflage and at least make her look a little less pathetic, but she couldn't control the sobs and hiccups that escaped her throat. What a way to show the strength she was trying to prove she had to him. "By help, you meant by using me."

"No-"

Aoko slammed her palm onto the railing, the sharp pain couldn't be compared to the twisting agony in her chest. "If you said you wanted my help, aren't we supposed to work together? Aren't we supposed to watch each other's back no matter how harsh the circumstances? But now you're ditching me! And- And why did you prepare this u-uniform under your clothes? It wasn't part of the plan! You said you didn't want to become Kaitou Kid again! You-" The rainwater seeped into her eyes, nose and mouth, constantly disrupting her sentences, but not her thoughts. "Y-You said you didn't want to touch magic again."

He flinched. From the flash in his blue eyes that she originally loved, it was a low blow, but as of now, she really couldn't care.

"Let's put some things aside." She continued as she wiped the tears from her eyes heatedly and bit the inside of her cheeks. " _Besides_ finding the truth. _Besides_ bringing down the organization. Am I not enough for you to stay?" Aoko croaked, feeling her body weighing down from the pain. Could pain even be measured by weight? It sure did for her.

He smiled. He _bloody_ smiled at her. "You're the only reason why I've stayed, for so long." He replied, with just a hint of melancholy in his voice.

She gaped. Even if she was the one who asked the question, she was too dumbstruck to respond. This wasn't the answer she thought she would hear.

"Then... why?"

"This is a better way." Kaito avoided her gaze and tipped his hat down, turning to face the direction of the abandoned building again. He obviously wanted to leave, but he stayed. It was all true. She was the reason he stayed, and was still staying until now.

"Di-Didn't you say that you don't want Kaitou Kid to take away your life, and also the things you love?" She began begging, her last resort measure. She wanted to bring back that conversation that was etched in her memory like a tattoo and let him know how she remembered every word he said because it mattered to her. Everything he said and did always, _always_ mattered to her. She thought at the point of time, he must have knew; from how he'd always managed to read her like an open book, that she was _happy_ he had made the choice to stay. Was it not obvious enough?

"Yes." From her point of view, all she could see was his clenched jaws glistering from the droplets of rain. "I did say that."

"Then don't do this. Don't be Kaitou Kid. It-It's the same for me too." Aoko swallowed hard, but it didn't help to ease her trembling voice. "I don't want Kaitou Kid to take away my life. I don't want Kaitou Kid to take away my father again, _and_ you. Don't take them away from me. Don't make me-"

When she was young, just at the age of five and in kindergarten, many teachers and jealous parents called her a brilliant child. When she was young, just at the age of six, she'd forgotten how to spell the word _father_. When she was young, just at age of seven, she moved home and away from everything she knew to be closer to her father's workplace. All of the sudden when her mother died and she couldn't rely on anyone and be called young anymore, she hated Kaitou Kid. She hated him. She hated him. She hated him-

And then Kaitou Kid abruptly disappeared and Aoko finally lost the feeling she didn't know her young self could ever feel. It was ironic, really, because everyone always said how children were innocent and have the power to love everything easily. But it wasn't the case for Aoko. She didn't experience much love during her childhood. But as she grew older, as she understood the importance of her father's duties, as she realized Kaitou's Kid's tragedy, as she began to know who Kaito was, everything became different.

 _Please don't make me..._

"I'm sorry." Like the swift wind, he climbed onto the railings and lifted a foot over the air. "I'm really sorry."

"That's not what I want to hear! Please! Kaito!" Aoko wailed. She would trade anything in the world to make him stay, even if she had to sacrifice her own feelings for him. If he thought of her as a burden, she would leave. If he didn't need her anymore, she would leave. _He_ didn't have to leave. "Don't go! Please. _Please._ "

After a hundredth times, her pleas finally managed to stop him like magic. Did it finally get into his brain? He slowly tilted his head towards her and she tried to decipher whatever she could read from his expression, but it was his signature, unreadable poker-face in place. It took him three full seconds to finally speak.

"I think I like you too, Aoko."

 _Pitter-Patter_

His whisper was like death, because once he said those words and flew away in the rain, her sight turned murky and the last thing she felt was her body hitting the damp floor.

.o.

Aside from the not sleeping and not eating, aside from the ache in her chest that plagued her all day and woke her up at night, Aoko hadn't known until now that heartbreak was a physical thing.

Drowning herself in work helped a little to distract her, and Shinichi had stopped asking her about Kaito on the same day when the news of Kaitou Kid's revival shook the whole nation. She wasn't sure if it was because Shinichi had given up on her or because the answer was too obvious. Either way, she was grateful that Kaito's name haunted her a tad bit lesser now.

Her father had abandoned his current position once the news reached him, but instead of returning to his golden seat; the leader of the legendary Kaitou Kid's squad, he was tasked as the adviser of the operations since it was obvious that his age had caught up with him, much to his displeasure. Hakuba was the one in charge, as if it would make the matter any less complicated.

She tried not to be involved with the excited gossips that loitered around when Kaitou Kid sent a heist note. She tried to act like she didn't care when Shinichi had taken the night off to visit the heist with Hakuba. She tried to pretend not to hear the loud cheers that screamed for the thief's name as she walked back home. She tried to imagine that Kaitou Kid was an illusion.

It somehow worked if she tried her best.

She also tried to ignore the large vending machines as she was heading to the lift. She tried not to think about the joke she always kept at the back of her head whenever she saw the fish tank at the lobby. She tried not to face the other side of the office where Kaito's desk was as much as she could every second. She tried not to remember his tender smiles and teasing looks he showed only to her. She tried to forget Kuroba Kaito.

But once she reached home, she would slip into his flip flops and roamed around her house like a zombie instead of taking a proper shower or finding food to eat. And after she was tired of doing nothing, she then threw herself onto her bed and wrapped his black coat around her body before falling asleep and waking up in the middle of the night, with tear-stained cheeks that perfectly reminded her the time when she woke up cold and alone on the roof.

Basically, she was pathetic.

.o.

Of course, this was definitely the karma she deserved for teasing Keiko about how dramatic her life was compared to her own, like, ten years ago.

Aoko was on her way home from a nearby 24-hour supermarket, just a bit before sunrise after purchasing some toiletries that had run out. The last thing she expected from this shopping trip she hadn't done in ages was something made of metal being smashed across her head.

She decided she had some kind of thing or fate with waking up lying on the floor, but it didn't include having cable ties strapped around her ankles and wrists behind her back. She struggled to sit up by herself, and not long later, someone had _kindly_ and roughly tugged her arm and slammed her against the wall, the perfect act to complete her sitting arrangement. Bravo.

The room she was trapped in was bare and windowless and a musty smell was coming from somewhere, which Aoko tried not to think where the source could be from. Her legs were sore and arms were tight against her side, thanks to the cable ties and the way her kidnappers had dumped her on the hard ground and made her _sleep_ achingly in that way. It was really hard for her to be comfortable, not like she was expecting to be in this situation. She glared at the man who was towering over her and snarled as pieces of information and pictures she had deemed useless and burnt away from her mind were slowly coming back to her.

 _Snake. The man that possibly killed Kaito's parents and Konosuke Jii. This bloody murderer that ruined_ everything _._

"Good afternoon." He squatted before her and Aoko wished she could muster the energy to kick his shin or better, his crotch. But she was too weak and tired to move and the pain at the back of her head wasn't helping. When all methods didn't seem like it would work, she choose the equally-not-as-wise alternative and spit on his face.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, growled and sent a slap across her cheek before pulling her hair back and whispered harshly, his nasty breath on her face.

"Do you wish for death? _Girl?_ "

Really, it wasn't any different from the past few months she had been living. "What do you want?" She gritted through clenched teeth, trying to ignore how his clawed hand was digging into the very spot where she was hit and fainted. But honestly, it was much easier to handle this physical pain than emotional ones.

"Where's Kaitou Kid?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You know who Kaitou Kid is." Snake narrowed his eyes. He threw her head aside and she had to use all her energy to firmly remain in her sitting position. He fished out a pistol from inside his trench coat and waved it up and down her face. "Tell me where he is now."

She closed her eyes and wondered why she was even praying for patience when her life was one big pile of mess that no God would want to touch and help to rectify it for her. All she wanted to do was to get toiletries ... She was too tired to complain about her misfortune, even in her head. "Why did you assume that I know?"

"You flew off with him on that roof. Don't _lie_." He took his threats a bit further and pressed the barrel on her cheek. "Tell me where his lair is and your brain and skull will remain where they belong."

Lie? _Lie?_ This word, on a personal level, irked her more than anything else in the world. "I said I don't know where he is!" She yelled.

 _Enough of this nonsense._ Aoko decided to think rationally and put the years of her fully-fledged police skills to work. She remembered Snake telling her a _good afternoon_. If it wasn't a joke, it meant someone would notice her unusual disappearance at the office, especially Shinichi. Yes. She swallowed hard and twisted in her posture, trying to feel if her cell phone was in her pocket. Miraculously, she felt the bulge at the back of her pants' pocket and tried not to be obvious about her elated discovery _and_ how careless this bunch of worthless criminals were. Her GPS system was always turned on, and she was sure her phone was fully charged overnight. Good. Keep calm. Just endure _a bit_ longer. She had been in even worse situations, no doubt. All Snake had was a gun. Just a gun. Everything would be-

" _Answer me._ " His eyes were dangerously cold.

"I said," she challenged him back with a sharp gaze. "I. Don't. Know."

He pulled back the hammer of the gun and placed it near her right ear, the cool metal grip resting against her cheek. She knew it wouldn't be as cool if he happened to fire the gun. "It seems like there's something wrong with your ears. Maybe I can fix that."

Aoko bit her lips just in time to stop them from quivering, but Snake managed to catch on with her little gesture. He smirked menacingly and rubbed the gun further into her face. "I'm giving you one last chance. Tell me, or else."

She lowered her head and ignored the hotness stinging in her eyes. Even if she knew, she'd rather die than tell Snake. Even if she knew, she didn't know if she want to see him anymore. Even if she knew, she had already given up on everything between them; _if_ there was even _anything_ in the first place. Those days when she would stare at her phone screen and hear the faint robotic voice telling her the number she had dialled wasn't in use were over. Her heart had died when she sat and waited by his doorsteps for the whole night with his coat and flip-flops in her hands; the only excuse she got to see him, till she was so hungry and was about to faint. She simply nodded and moved on with the conversation when her father told her how _this_ Kaitou Kid wasn't exactly the same magic-loving and charismatic Kaitou Kid he knew decades ago.

What could she even feel at this point of time? What could she even say?

"I don't know." The words came out like a whimper. It wasn't resulted from the threat, but more for her goddamn pitiful self.

"Alright." Snake laughed, in a way that made her blood freeze. "Suit yourself."

He grabbed her neck, his finger wrapped around the trigger and-

Aoko couldn't feel anything. Yes, there was a loud ringing blasting in her ear, but there wasn't any pain. Her body swayed when Snake had released her collar and she crashed to her side. She felt her conscious floating away, but it wasn't before she'd seen a couple of feet dashing across the ground and feeling two firm hands pulling her up from the ground. Black spots began obscuring her vision and she could barely recognize the faces, much less seeing their mouth frantically moving and supposedly calling out for her. But she couldn't hear.

She couldn't hear a thing.

Just like her heart, darkness overwhelmed her.

* * *

 _A/N: HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAH HELLO_


	9. Circle

Circle of Fate

9: Circle

* * *

Aoko finally reached the stage.

A bowl of the hospital's _signature_ bland porridge was sitting on her overbed table, the spoon laid on the napkin and untouched. She stared at the gooey mess, hoping it would evaporate by itself sooner or later.

"You have to eat." Her father said for the hundredth time in a record of four hours since she woke up and found herself under the chemical clean white sheets. Her check-up happened a while ago and she wasn't sure what was going on but drowsily allowed herself to be pushed around the hospital in a wheelchair and simply nodding or shaking her heads to questions. By the time she was back on her bed, her hot bowl of food was there.

She twiddled with her spoon before turning away. "I just want to sleep."

It was some kind of head trauma she got from the two blows. One from the attacker, another when she fell to her side and hit her head on the concrete floor. That was what she overheard when the doctor came by to her ward and spoke to her father, though it should be more than obvious with the bandage wrapped around her head. And it was her father's agitated tone during the conversation that woke her up, but it didn't take her long to fall back asleep again.

Her colleagues and friends came to visit her at some period during the day; Sawako was teased by the others for using Aoko as an excuse to see her boyfriend, and Keiko shared about her recent holiday trip with her family. The little laughter and joy helped to keep her awake most of the time, and to preciously remind herself she was alive and Snake had lost.

Snake got nothing.

Aoko still couldn't remember what exactly happened after Snake threatened to pull the trigger and blast her brain out of her head. People told her bits and parts of the story, and she had to piece them together herself to solve the ambiguous ending.

Her GPS wasn't the reason she was saved. Snake had all along been wanted and tracked by the Interpol for quite some time for his possible involvement in a number of major criminal syndicates, and his kidnapping act on her was a good reason to lock him in first before they slowly squeeze all the information out from him. It was Hakuba who found her and took her to the hospital, and Snake and his trench coat club were captured and it was the end of the story.

It was weird, really. Although she couldn't see a thing, couldn't hear a thing, she thought she could smell, especially blood. Whether it was her blood or not, she wasn't sure, but somewhere in the mixture or the metallic scent and the horrible musty smell in the captive room, there was a lingering fragrance of coffee, though it wasn't the same as the one from the headquarters' vending machine. Either she was going crazy, or her head was hit a little bit too hard.

She hadn't drunk coffee for a long time, for reasons that were too obvious and painful to think about. But as of late, she had been dreaming a lot about it. She dreamt about the pure blackness of the drink in her cup swirling in circles as she stirred the content for a thousand times. She dreamt she dared herself to pour that little bit of milk and ended up disappointed because she poured too much and it turned too creamy to resemble the dark shade of brown of _that man's_ hair.

At some point later, she thought she woke up in the middle of the night, to be comforted that she wasn't wrong. That she added the correct amount of milk because the moonlight from her hospital window had cast the perfect light in her ward to make the colour of his hair and her coffee the same. She thought she saw his messy lock of hair by her bed, and her hand was engulfed by his warmth. She thought she smelt the same scent of coffee too.

But when Aoko woke up the next morning, there was no evidence, no clues, nothing to prove it was a reality. Her feelings began dancing its signature _I-am-confused-and-in-pain_ move inside her chest and she ended up accepting the fact that it was all a dream in order for her to move on with her day.

If it really was a dream, she wondered if it was possible for a person to have the same dream consecutively for days. Because, well, it did for her.

.o.

All of the nurses and doctors Aoko met were nice, and she really couldn't blame Sawako for falling in love with one here. In the short span of a few days, she'd formed a friendship with a nurse named Miyamoto, who was often in charge of her food duties and wheeling her around the hospital for check-ups.

Aoko loved the weather today. Through her window, she could see children, who were bored of waiting inside the four walls, running around in the large field. The clouds were low and the trees were swaying like a celebratory dance to the perfect weather. She didn't have to say much before Miyamoto gave in to her request and allowed her to go for a stroll.

There wasn't anywhere she wanted to go, so she let the landmarks and trail led the way. It was always business whenever she came to the hospital, be it to interview the lucky victims or to get herself or the people she cared about treated, and it was sad that she had once missed out such a nice scenic view that was much better than most of the parks she'd visited.

She stopped for a moment to stretch, taking in the calming air and breathing out all the negativity she had in her. If this exercise could be permanent and long lasting, maybe she wouldn't have to curl up on her bed and sleep with ugly tears every time. She shook her head. It seemed she didn't really breathe out all the negativity within her after all.

Her eyes glanced at the flower pots lying around the sidewalk and she smiled. These grown flowers were obviously very well taken care of and it was a nice addition to-

 _Wait._ She recognized these flowers. She _remembered_ these flowers. She turned a little to her right and widened her eyes at her finding. Just like what she thought, it was _that_ bench. The bench where she sat and felt horrible and remorseful about Sawako's leg incident long, _long_ time ago.

Aoko stared at the lone bench from afar. It looked different, everything here looked different between day and night. She always preferred the daytime. She liked the light, the sun, the heavenly feeling and knowing she wasn't alone and scared. But after looking at that bench, she loved the night time more. Back then, she liked how the sky was littered with stars and out of the blue, her own favourite star appeared and came to her just when she needed him too. She liked how the cold turned non-existence as the warmth of his shoulder seeped through the fabric of her shirt-

How stupid.

"Watch out you brats!"

She suddenly felt one of her arms being pulled to the side, and everything fell into a slow motion. The familiar warmth killed the coolness of the breeze around her, the star that wasn't dimmed despite the strong light of the sun... Again, he popped out at the moment when she needed him to, like always (no, not after he abandoned her), like now, and saved her before she got run over by two kids riding recklessly on their bikes.

"Sorry!" One of the children yelled out from the distance and they continued peddling away.

The swaying trees and pots of flowers were gone, and the soft laughter from the distance evaporated to nothing. Everything slowly faded away to a blank, except for _him_. Her eyes tentatively shifted away from the ground and moved up to _him._ All that was left was _him._

Forget about butterflies. Her stomach was raging with wild animals right now.

He was still frowning none-to-gentle at the disappearing backs of the children, his jaws clenched and lips tugged down. Nobody was hurt, nothing went wrong, but he acted like those kids were the reason why global warming happened. It didn't take him long to be conscious of his own overreactions, but he wasn't quick enough to dispel it before she'd noticed it all. He was back to his calm demeanour after a simple switch off his restart button.

This was the expression she'd always seen, the usual nonchalant look that fitted his calming blue eyes better. But it was a tad bit different now. There was something heavy in his eyes, and she knew the eyebags weren't the cause of it. But Aoko didn't want to know the reasons. She didn't want to care.

She was trying hard not to.

The distance between them wasn't part of her attention until Kuroba Kaito stepped away, his fingers slipped away from her arm and he hid them inside his pockets. If she wasn't only wearing her pink hospital gown and slippers, she would've suspected he had stolen something and kept it inside his pockets. But after that thought, she laughed, inwardly, at herself. Actually, he _did_ already steal everything from her long time ago. She had nothing left.

They stood in the middle of the walkway, no words exchanged. He gave her the silence she didn't want, and she returned him the cold stare she thought he deserved. He accepted it and didn't look away, and this frustrated her more than what she planned.

In all those years, Aoko had learned to read subtle hints of his emotions occasionally when he showed enough for her. Seeing as he was her partner, she had all the time and experiences to develop this skill better than anyone else in the Division. But at this moment, there wasn't a need of talent or luck to tell the meaning of the look in his eyes and the words he didn't say- _couldn't_ say.

 _"I'm sorry."_

She lost the staring contest. She couldn't accept it, she couldn't _look_ at it. It was unfair. Everything was unfair. She had told and reminded herself the pain that was brought to her was because of the existence of two men. _No_ , the _same_ man. She once hated her favourite news channel for a period of time because they kept reporting on nothing but Kaitou Kid. And now when the true form of that identity was here, she suddenly felt like the beautiful scenery in the park was nothing compared to his arrival, but not to forget the bonus feeling of a stab to her heart too.

It was as if her feelings for Kaitou Kid was Ebola, and what she felt for Kuroba Kaito was the mercury cure. Both were, in their own way, damaging to the point of being lethal. And she had to choose the poison herself.

The silence continued; There was nothing she could say. She had said everything back then on the roof, and it didn't change anything, why would it make a difference now? Her hands began to tremble at the recollection of her failed attempt to convince the man she thought had loved her to stay and she let out a shuddering breath to ease the squeezing pain in her chest.

Stupidly, tragically and pathetically, his silence contained all the powers to make her stay. To stay for a little while more, to wait for something to happen, to just be there for no reason. Seconds turned to a minute and the overwhelming silence had confirmed that staying was, indeed, pointless. And dumb. She was caught by her own delusion of _literally nothing_ and chased her own tail in circles, thinking there _was something_ and ended up biting herself. She deserved this. It was her fault. It was her fault for thinking Kuroba Kaito was going to do something.

 _Treat it like a dream. Like an illusion._

Another breeze came like a nudge and she finally gave in and took it as a sign from Mother Nature. She turned on her heels and towards the direction where she came from, leaving the memories of the bench, leaving the happiness she couldn't bear to remember, and leaving _him_.

Halfway through stomping down the pavement, Aoko wanted to turn back, to see if he was still there, to see if his reaction was the same as hers when he ditched her on the roof. But she couldn't, not when her face was filled with the tears that were shed all for him.

.o.

Hakuba visited a bit later after Aoko's lunch. He came alone with a bouquet of flowers and fruits in his hands and showed her like a father waving a box of pizza to his kid as a surprise.

"Hello." She smiled.

"Hey." He returned a small grin and placed his gifts on the bedside table for her. "How are you feeling?"

Physically, she did feel better. But when she remembered the shuddering incident of waking up this morning and choking on her own vomit, she couldn't get the lies out. She pursed her lips and he nodded understandingly to his own question before taking a seat on the plastic stool conveniently beside her bed.

"Your work must be busy, you didn't have to come."

"Of course I have to." He smoothed down his tie. "And this is a chance for me to finally see you without you running away from me."

Aoko flushed, his words hit the jackpot but she wasn't bold enough to admit that. Hakuba simply smiled and didn't pry further. She tried to reach out and offer the jug of water to him and like the gentleman he was, he helped himself and gave her a cup too.

"Snake's pretty much convicted for his involvement in many illegal activities." He spoke after taking a polite sip of his water. "And now that Kudo has a lead in his private investigation for another criminal syndicate, your team will be very busy soon."

"I'm not sure if he's going to involve the team, or me." Aoko mustered a business-like smile that could convey anything. Shinichi once made it clear to her about this issue, and she had the experience of being unwanted before and it wasn't good at all. She'd decided since a long time ago that if she fulfilled the job she originally signed up for, it was enough for her.

He paused and set his cup aside. "I'm sure Kudo has plans for everyone." His amber eyes shifted uncertainly towards her. "Though the sad thing is he's currently short of his two best members on the team."

Aoko lowered her gaze. She wouldn't count herself as the best, but she had no objections about the other.

"Have you seen him recently?" Hakuba softly asked.

No names, just pronoun games. She nodded her head meekly. "Yesterday." It had been a hell of a journey back to her ward and she'd forgotten all about the great clouds and nice sunshine. To her, yesterday was a tornado-and-tsunami kind of day.

"Did he say anything?"

 _The worst part._ "No." She could see a muscle flickered in Hakuba's jaw.

He slumped a little on his seat. "If he'd said something, I wouldn't have to feel like I owed that guy. And it sucks."

No. _No._ Aoko didn't understand. She frowned. "Why would you owe him?" _And what can he even say?_

"I've taken plenty of credit for his work." He sighed and glanced away with a little glower that was uncharacteristic of him. "I wasn't the one who knocked Snake down. I wasn't the one who carried you down the hundred flights of stairs either."

 _What-?_

The door abruptly slid open and they both turned. In a frightening heartbeat, at that very millisecond, Aoko swore she thought it would be-

"Hello Aoko-chan." Miyamoto greeted and entered the room with a folder. She stuck it under her arm and unfolded the wheelchair that was leaning against the wall and wheeled it to Aoko's bed. "The doctors are waiting for you in the scanning room."

Hakuba stood up and stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, stepping aside so that Miyamoto could push the wheelchair closer to Aoko. "I guess I shall be on my way."

Aoko slowly hoisted herself off the bed for the wheelchair. _There're so many things I want to ask, so many things I need to know,_ but she resigned to the fate and tried not to look like a puppy being chained back to its kennel because the walk was over. Besides, she wasn't _supposed_ to care in the first place. _Stop thinking. It's over. It's pointless._ She mustered a smile before glancing up at Hakuba. "Thanks for coming to see me."

"No problem. Oh," He gestured around her ward to show how bare and boring it was, which was exactly the point he was trying to put across. "Do you want to read some newspapers? I have a bunch in my car. I can give them to you."

It was hard to picture Hakuba reading the newspapers. A tablet would fit him better. Newspapers was for someone else, someone who would stick both legs crudely on the desk, someone who didn't mind showing the world what he was reading, someone who couldn't care less as he spoke his views and jokes about the politics' page aloud, someone who possessed the smile that could light the grey papers into colours-

Aoko closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted. "Thanks." She didn't have the energy left in her to decline his offer and listing the reasons for it.

Miyamoto wheeled her out of her ward.

Her scan was done within an hour. Though the symptoms like her vomiting and sudden blurry visions had been recurring during her hospital stay, nothing wrong was shown through the results of the scans. She could hope, _they_ could hope, that it was all just a temporary post-trauma effect and things would get better. If all was fine by her next scan again, she could be discharged.

The news made Aoko much happier now, and Miyamoto sensed her uplifted mood too as she started a few perky conversations while making their way back.

"So which hunk is your boyfriend?"

"What?" Aoko almost choked. "I-"

"Shush! Let me guess," Miyamoto chuckled. "The detective who solved a murder two floors below ours?"

 _Murders can happen anytime, anywhere;_ an autobiography of Kudo Shinichi. She could picture the book being published soon. " _No._ He's my boss. Nothing more. _"_

"What a pity. So is it the blonde man who visited you a while before?"

 _Almost, but-_ "No. We're just friends."

"Really?" Miyamoto hummed and a sly smile lit up her face. "Then it must be the guy from the garden."

Aoko turned and blinked at her. "What guy? What garden?"

"Just yesterday!" Miyamoto chimed. They made a turn down at the end of the corridor and finally reached the ward. The conversation was put on hold for a moment as Miyamoto manually slid the door open before pushing Aoko in. "You went out for a stroll and I was actually coming to find you to pass you a jacket to protect you from the chills, then I saw you with that guy and I left because I didn't want to ruin the moment."

That guy.

"We-" Her lips parted, half open and close like a fish in a tank. A _yes_ or a _no_ wouldn't suffice, so she used the easier method and gave up on replying.

"So it's really him? I knew it! I guess I did the right thing."

Aoko rubbed an eye and sighed. "What? Not ruining the moment? There wasn't any moment-"

"For breaking the rules!" Miyamoto harshly whispered across the empty ward. She parked the wheelchair next to the bed and Aoko dumbly climbed onto it with a perplexed look.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know the regulations. Visitors are only allowed during visiting hours." Miyamoto skilfully folded the wheelchair and leaned it back against the wall. "But I let him in when it was way past that time. And when you're asleep."

"Y-You what?"

"I let him in." She repeated innocently.

"He could've been a murderer or a stalker and you let him in just like that?" Aoko scoffed and shook her head. "I'm starting to doubt the security here."

Miyamoto laughed. "I'm not _that_ stupid. I recognized him. He was one of the people waiting outside the operation room while your head was being stitched up, and he'd talked to your father and the blonde man for a bit too."

"You've met so many people every day and you can remember him?" Aoko's question sounded the opposite of mocking. After the words came out, she felt like laughing herself for even asking. Of course Miyamoto would notice him. He always had the talent of making himself stand out, the perfect formula for Kaitou Kid.

"He'd certainly left a big impression on me." Miyamoto nodded, more to herself. "The way he sat on the waiting chair and looking more broken and worried than your father; can you _even_ imagine with that comparison?"

Aoko, indeed, couldn't. She momentarily shifted her blank gaze to her front and stared into space for a long while, trying to let everything register into her brain. It seemed her thoughts had left her body and went beyond a mile when it took her a full five seconds to realize what was on her overbed table. She widened her eyes.

When Hakuba said he had a bunch of newspapers, he wasn't lying. There was literally a _stack_ of newspapers and she estimated there were around seven days' worth. She pulled the table closer to the chest and arranged them flat according to the dates. She was right about the seven days, and the date started when she was admitted to the hospital till today. Why would Hakuba keep seven days' worth of newspapers in his car? She would prefer to believe it was a coincidence to avoid overthinking, but she couldn't.

Her tingling investigative sense had clouded her mind enough till she'd forgotten Miyamoto was still there until the latter spoke.

"Let me know if you need anything," Miyamoto smiled and headed for the door. "I'm just one button away."

"Thank you." It was hard not to smile back.

The first thing she looked for was articles relating to Snake's capture, and she got nothing. She supposed his arrest was kept confidential to avoid alerting the enemy, but it was a miracle that the media completely didn't touch upon it. Her eyes glanced over the main pages of all the newspapers again, and she finally understood why.

Kaitou Kid, Kaitou Kid and Kaitou Kid.

Of course the charming thief was going to steal the limelight. Who would care about some unknown man with a moustache and his trench coat gang? No one cared about the number of lives the cruel man ruined, but people do care when the Phantom Thief hadn't shown up on the promised heist last week and had been missing ever since. The conspiracies were in bold and printed as the title of the page, saying how Kaitou Kid had turned old and bailed out again, or the new Kaitou Kid was a disciple of the first one and quitted on the whim.

All these would've sounded funny to her if she didn't know what the real reason was.

Her eyes were starting to hurt and she needed more than two pillows to get her back upright without effort, but that didn't stop her. She twisted her position to reach out for a pen from the bedside table and prepared for work. If _that man_ was planning to be the silent hero forever, if _that man_ even thought it was fine to keep his _whatever-dumbass-solo_ plan up, he was dead wrong.

Aoko had found a lot of reasons to see him again. She needed to knock some sense into him, kick him in the shin and punch him in the stomach. She had to tell him Inspector Kudo needed him, and how she now understood why he hated paperwork so much. She still owed him a million of thanks, for rescuing her. And for saving her from getting knocked down by two kids on their bikes too.

And also how she mis- No. That's all it, for now.

She flipped a page and began to read.


	10. Spiral Up

Circle of Fate

10: Spiral Up

* * *

"Your stars are aligned."

Kaito glanced up from his glass of gin and turned towards the voice. Another fine piece of rejection was leaning against the bar counter beside him, her slender fingers running through her smooth hair that swayed around her waist. He frowned, not really understanding what he just heard and decided to pretend nothing happened. He returned to his alcohol.

Her wry smile didn't falter. "You're meeting your destiny soon, but you're going to crash hard in the end if you make the wrong move with this chance."

 _Is this woman going bonkers?_ All he wanted to do was to spend some time alone and get his mind off the charred body he had to see in the autopsy room to follow up on his arson-murder investigation, and here was what God had given him to test his patience even further. He placed his glass down as gently as he could and face the lady again-

"I'm Koizumi Akako." She purred and angled her chin in a way she was looking down at him. "Nice to meet you."

"Please don't tell me that you're my destiny," Kaito muttered, deadpanned. "And no worries. I'm not going to crash into anything, not your fine-looking chest too, at least not tonight. So there won't be any wrong move I'm going to make. Goodnight and goodbye." He took the last remaining sip of his drink and was planning to order more.

She placed the back of her hand near her mouth and gave a creepy cackle. "Let's see about that."

That was it. Time to go home. He slid the bill across the counter and jumped off his seat, his feet shuffling towards the exit and out onto the streets. The faint music was out of his earshot after he walked a distance, and the nonsensical conversation he couldn't believe he just went through was long forgotten.

Kaito never met that woman again, not like he wanted to either. But somewhere in the future, her words came back to him.

Koizumi Akako was right, to a certain extent. He did meet his destiny, by crashing into her around the corner of the corridor and scattering all the reports and papers he had spent hours tidying onto the ground. That was all about the _crashing_ part if it was supposed to be taken as its literal sense. Regarding the wrong move he could make to destroy whatever chance that would happen between them... Maybe he would start to _care_ when her existence even mattered to him at all.

Of course it wouldn't. He couldn't possibly give a shit.

.o.

The thing about Nakamori Aoko that irritated Kaito wasn't her damn eyelashes. Hers were long, nice and perfect (no, that's not the main point), but the fact that her eyelashes fluttered more than the times she spoke was what annoyed him.

She was observant and meticulous in her own weird ways; Smart was a simpler adjective to describe her. He never doubted the people Holmes' freak recruited into his team, but the problem was her level of confidence that prevented her from saying her opinions. Kudo was always in his own world once he'd entered a crime scene, and no one else really took notice of her quiet form. It pained Kaito to think this actually bothered him. Nothing ever bothered him.

He took the bad guy route because he noticed, since a long time ago, that she displayed anger better than other emotions. Fury was what drove her and made her speak _and_ retaliate. He would boast about his wisdom to her and mock her several times to get her talking, to get her to disagree with him and explain what was on her mind. And it worked. Many times, something she said in her comments sparked something and the complex murders were solved within an hour. Case closed. Wonderful. Time to go home.

Though it was meant to help her in the first place, it had become a habit to tease her for no reason once in a while. He liked to see a reaction from her, and he liked that he was the only one who could evoke it out from her. She certainly didn't like it, obviously, and he knew she didn't like him for various other reasons too. That was when a new rumor started within an office about how Nakamori Aoko liked someone in the headquarters, he inwardly knew it couldn't be him, that's for sure (And he didn't want that too).

He had put a clear front and showed his obvious lack of concern for her personal life, but for the joke, he could throw a celebratory party for the new chapters in her non-existence love story as a pity, though that wouldn't be the case if the person she _liked_ was Kudo. For once, luckily, he was glad to be wrong about her. Kaito had bet a hefty amount of money that Holmes' freak would hook up with a duty lawyer called Mouri Ran sooner or later, and he wasn't going to let a cute and innocent junior whose chest hadn't struck puberty yet to ruin it all for him.

The only thing about her appearance he wasn't so judgmental were her eyes. Her eyes were pretty, and he got to give her some credit for it. And maybe that was all it took for him to approach a lady with the similar deep gazing eyes at a bar one night, to realize it was that very girl he was thinking about in the first place. The light was dim, and she was sitting down, which directed his attention on somewhere else rather than her body figure. It was the greatest first mistake he ever made. He couldn't believe it at first when it was her, and he couldn't believe he'd used a pickup line _on her_.

Anyway-

One thing he started to notice was how people began pairing him and her together for many occasions, just because they were table partners, just because he asked Kudo _one time_ for assistance and the latter picked Nakamori Aoko for him, just because he told the rest of the team to make their own damn coffee, just because he was always there and she was always there and they were always at the same place at the same time. He didn't mind going with her or anyone else, because honestly, it didn't change the fact that he was really relying on himself rather than whichever partner that was assigned to pair with him. The problem was the walls he remembered building around him a long time ago were crumbling, bit by bit. He could feel it, and he wasn't sure why or _how_.

It scared him to think this Nakamori Aoko could possibly mean anything to him in his life. There was no way. But random moments like smiling and remembering the mayonnaise stain on her nose whenever he was buying his chicken sandwich from the cafeteria... That was too much.

What on earth was _wrong_ with him?

.o.

 _Bloody_ hell.

Four magicians had died. Four. Four people had to die before the higher ups decided to package these critical cases and consider this a serial killing and let the best team to handle it. Kaito knew Kudo was finally authorized to take charge of these murders last night and it was the first time Kaito cared enough to reach the office so early. But no one was around, and the first thing Kudo did when he saw him was to send him off to a park's telephone booth to aid in an investigation of a bomb hoax call. Did that murder magnet really think Kaito was _dumb_? Did that asshole really think he did not _know_? But for the sake of winning any upcoming argument and proving he was level-headed and responsible enough, he obeyed the orders and fulfilled his assigned duties, only leaving the investigation team ten minutes later after pinpointing the obvious facts and helping to close up the gaps of the mystery by eighty-percent.

He returned back to the headquarters, his feet stomping past curious onlookers who glanced at him and probably wondered if someone he knew just died. They weren't wrong. Everyone he knew was all dead, long ago. But those days always haunt him like it happened yesterday.

The office was empty, again, saved for Aoko. He walked in right at the moment when she left Kudo's office, her brows furrowed and lips pursed and most importantly, a file in her hand. What file was that? The case? Something else? It must be important enough to distract her to the point she didn't even realize he was standing by the door and watching her every move.

After she sat down on her seat, he trudged towards her.

"What are you doing?"

Aoko slapped the file shut and spun around, eyes wide.

"N-Nothing."

Great. Even _she_ was assuming he was dumb enough to believe her lie. He stared at the file underneath her hand. He took a different approach.

"Where the hell is everyone? The office was bloody empty when I came in the morning."

No answer.

Fine, then- "I've heard the team is placed in charge of the four magicians' murder." He observed how her fingers curled on the file, agonizing. "Is that the case file of the fourth victim?"

"No." She spoke boldly, perfectly reminding the reasons why he liked it when she was confident. But in this scenario, he didn't like it at all. If the file wasn't about the fourth victim, then what was it?

He slammed his hands on her chair to tilt it properly towards him, but her hand still didn't move away from the file, much to his annoyance. "Your first word is a lie. Second isn't. So is it the third victim? Second victim? Which one are we investigating now?"

" _We_ aren't."

It was the same as her giving two slaps across his cheeks. They weren't? _They_ weren't? He slowly straightened his back, eyes unable to leave hers. He was always cautious and never allowed anyone to possess the power to make their words had any effect on him, but bravo. Look at how much Nakamori Aoko had grown for the past one year. Look at how much her simple words could _hurt_ him.

"What are you saying?" He growled. "You are and I'm not? Who has the rights to cut me out?"

"I did." Kudo's voice spoke.

 _Oh, for God's sake._ This stick in the ass knew why Kaito was doing this job, why he was even serving the bloody government and seeking justice for dead people because he couldn't do it for the people he cared about. And now-

" _Why?_ "

"You know as well as I do."

"I've asked you." Kaito stomped over towards Kudo. "I've _begged_ you."

"We'll talk inside."

It had been long since Kaito needed to do his breathing exercise. He couldn't really remember the blunt words he said in the private office, or the reminders Kudo constantly said and interruptted in the middle of Kaito's pathetic pleas, but he remembered one sentence very clearly.

"Don't find Aoko," Kudo warned. "Don't involve her in your selfish-"

Kaito left.

Kudo did mention giving him a week of vacation to have some time to reflect, but _sorrowfully_ , Kaito preferred staycation. He went straight home and set up all his private computers and got working until the second morning when the fifth murder happened. He gathered all the data he could from the newspaper and left his house with a perfect disguise to get even more information.

Things slowly fell into places, and the result wasn't what Kaito originally wanted. It wasn't the act of the same killer he was finding, or having to do with the possible criminal organization he was searching for. Just a pitiful daughter named Ichiya Sawako seeking revenge for her father who died due to magic. Maybe, just maybe, he could relate to the woman in some sense.

His revenge plan would be so easy. Get dressed in that Kaitou Kid's uniform he happened to find in Jii's old safe house after he died, get the attention from the killers who murdered everyone he loved and _revenge_. Bring them down. Destroy them. Ruin them to pieces. Maybe if he still loved magic as much as he did last time, maybe if he hadn't sworn to himself to not follow what his father did-

And maybe if someone, _that_ someone would stop smiling in his mind and giving him a reason to start to learn how to trust people, he could finalize his decision about reviving Kaitou Kid easier.

The filled whiteboard he had been staring all evening switched back to the Television with a simple press of a button on his remote. Silence filled his living room like usual and he sat on his sofa, eyes blank and unsure. Kaito honestly didn't intend to involve anyone in his matters, ever, because that was how he lived for all the years in his life and nothing was supposed to change. But he wanted to give it a shot and try something he never dared to try before; he wanted to put his trust on _her_.

He pushed himself off the sofa and walked out of his house and towards the direction of the bus stop he knew she always went to.

It was stupid, really. Because if he ever thought back about that night when Nakamori Aoko got into the cab with him, he would realize the whole issue he was fretting about wasn't whether he should trust her or not. It was all about being afraid the person you'd built your courage to trust in might not have trusted you back. He was just an oblivious, worried fool.

All in one verdict, and as sickening as it sounded, he was starting to care.

.o.

Every single time, it was because of these horny scumbags that made Kaito feel he was useless at his job. He had the perfect disguise skills he learned since young and could've been the team's best asset, but there was no way he was going to use his art to _flirt_ with suspects. So he kept his talent hidden to play backstage, letting the women on the team shine for a bit with their fancy makeover and pretend there were men who were legitimately interested in them when they were technically a soon-to-be-victim if the suspect really happened to be the murderer.

Aoko was the main star today, and like usual, there wasn't much confidence within the team about this plan. The suspect was a rich businessman whose only flaw was being perfect, and he had high standards of the women that attracted his attention, and also at the same time, the women he killed. Kaito could handle the appearance, but Aoko was the only one who had the perfect thing that he couldn't achieve. Her height.

Kaito wanted this mission to succeed, personally, because the suspect looked like a smug ass. He tried not to get immersed in the conversation between Sakamoto and Takashi as they discussed the chance of failure, even as boldly when Kudo was there. Holmes' freak was silent most of the time and showed no signs of disagreeing or agreeing with their opinions, which irked Kaito a whole lot because he was the one who choose Aoko and gave her the confidence to do this act. Was he also regretting now? Did he lose faith too?

"I bet it won't work out." Sakamoto shrugged and glanced over at Takashi. "What do you think?"

"Who wants to bet?" Takashi _daringly_ looked at Kaito. "You're joining our side, aren't you?"

"No."

Everyone was slightly taken aback by his response, except for Kudo, who was smirking at him. "It seemed you're on the other side."

"I'm not on any side." Kaito crossed his arms.

"I'll represent Kaito. Aoko will be great at this." Kudo's annoying smile didn't go away and Kaito wished he could pluck out all his teeth at the moment.

"I'm going with the usual betting amount." Sakamoto grinned.

"Same." Takashi nodded and glanced at Sakamoto as they exchanged a winning look. "You can't draw lines on a pumpkin and call it a watermelon."

Kaito had seen nicer pumpkins that looked better than Takashi's dumb head right now. This was such an unfair judgment on Aoko. He'd seen her from his desk, researching on her computer about the suspect and being hard at work remembering and reciting the plans over and over again. They had no idea how much heart and effort she had put on this mission. Besides, why didn't they take notice of her blue eyes? Weren't her blue eyes pretty to them?

"She's not a pumpkin," Kaito muttered. "She's a watermelon with faint lines on it. Just need some time and it'll show."

Kudo laughed.

"What?" Kaito frowned.

"Nothing."

It was then the sound of clacking high heels drove their attention away and down the corridor, a perfect sign of Aoko's arrival-

At first sight, Kaito thought he was in some kind of dream state when she was practically glowing and illuminating the white walls around her. Her brown hair was swiping over her smooth shoulders with every step, her red lips, perfect contours of brows, the tiny wings at the corner of her eyes, the pink blush... He didn't even know where to look first; His eyes were all over her _goddamn_ face. It was like watching the last flower falling from a withered tree. Slowly, time stopping and hypnotizing...

He caught the flower that fallen onto him, catching her with grace and securing her firmly in his arms. He couldn't think, he couldn't breathe, and the only thing he knew he had to do was to build up his usual defense mechanism he'd always shown around her and tried to execute it. The nasty and completely unnecessary joke flowed out from his mouth smoothly, but he prayed the pause he created two seconds before didn't blow his cover, which he knew it didn't when she glared at him with the cutest frown he'd ever seen and pushed him away. This was a safe and correct reaction from her to tell him that his cover was perfect, and that was exactly what he wanted-

"Oh Aoko-chan. Do you want to sit in my car?"

"How about mine?"

 _No,_ for God's sake. Kaito didn't want that. He didn't want to be the only bad guy when the other two men were the true assholes quacking negative things about her earlier. But this was what she knew and saw of him since the first day they'd met, and it probably won't change in the next millions of years. Wasn't she on his list of people whose opinions about him was the least of his concern? He should stick to that.

 _Concentrate. Ignore it._

"Erm," Aoko glanced around skeptically, the million-dollar question still hanging in the air. "I'll sit in Inspector Kuroba's car." She finally replied.

Kaito turned away and walked towards the lift. If they'd noticed hard enough, they would've seen the slight skip in his steps.

.o.

One day, some day, Kaito would set a law about how the only person allowed to harass Nakamori Aoko was him.

He abandoned the lady who was flirting with him with her nonexistence boobs and cheap pearls and went to where Aoko was struggling with her own situation. He could tell she was desperate to leave the scene by her uncharacteristic eagerness to touch his hand when she was always treating him like some kind of disease. It was funny as a joke but nice to know she _needed_ him.

It had been long since he truly danced with a proper partner, and he wasn't even very good at it in the first place. But he managed to pull it off well and swirl her around with the beat. That was some part of her power and effect on him; the unexpected and stunning kind that made him feel good about whatever he was doing

(For her).

.o.

The first thing Kaito thought when Sakamoto's brother whipped out a kitchen knife wasn't to reach out for the hidden gun tucked at the back of his pants. It was a mistake to even look away, but he couldn't help it when it was a reflex, to see if Aoko was there and in danger from getting stabbed by the knife. It was the most careless and stupidest reason to die, but knowing he wouldn't have to die worrying if she was alright, it was better that way.

"Inspector Kuroba!"

Kaito wanted to sleep, and maybe the pain on his stomach would eventually go away. But the voice that was shouting over his face...

"Inspector Kuroba!"

And then he felt something warm around his cold hand, squeezing it so tightly as if the person wanted to extract the calcium out of his bones. He peeled opened his eyes and stared at the blurry mess of brown locks hovering over him, the blue shimmering eyes that were filled with fear changed to an abundance of hope within a blink. Was this a dream? He was feeling conflicted between wanting it to be and not, but he confirmed his guess by squeezing back her hand. Her hand was soft. It was always soft.

So this was definitely not a dream.

"Oh, you're here."

In the mixture of the worried and angry growls, Kaito couldn't remember anything he or Aoko said. The next thing he remembered was waking up at the hospital and staring at the walls for two whole days with the most uncomfortable bandage around his waist before someone finally acknowledged his existence. He got an interrogation about Sakamoto's brother, and Sakamoto himself came to visit not long after. The painkiller wasn't effective, the guilt was ruining him, and nothing was better at all. Nothing had ever been better in his life.

But the world proved him wrong when the door slid open. At first, he wondered if some doctor was going to annoy him again, but what stood by the entrance of his ward was the one unexpected person he never knew he wanted to see for the past two days of his life. He smiled, and he swore he saw her lips tugged a little.

"Hey." Aoko said.

Their conversation was favourable, and that was the problem. Kaito should have known better than to _talk_ about his feelings to Aoko. He trusted her, but he couldn't trust her with a hint of his weakness, especially things to do with feelings. It was too dangerous. When Kudo suddenly stepped into the ward with his unnecessary gifts and sort-of saved the silence he didn't know how to break, Kaito used the flowers as an excuse to re-adjust the level of their _friendliness_ between each other back to the usual and watched her leave with the same annoyed look she always used on him.

 _Don't care for me too much._ Please _don't care for me too much._

Kudo crossed his arms and half-glared at Kaito after the door closed. "If you want to kill yourself, please do it after office hours."

"Fine, _fine."_ Kaito sighed and leaned back onto his uprighted pillows. "I'll write that explanation report for you, alright? As my punishment."

"Not just orders, you're also giving out punishment to yourself now?" Kudo scowled. "When are you ever going to see me as your superior?"

"I-"

"Aoko cried, you know?"

Kaito blinked, his mouth hanging open from the crude replies he had forgotten all about when Kudo interrupted him. "...What?"

"She cried for you." Kudo shook his head. "Please wake up and stop doing stupid things."

It wasn't funny to think about Aoko's tear-stained face. It wasn't funny at all. "Why would she cry for me?"

"I wondered about that too." Kudo drawled and shoved both hands into his pockets. "I have some matters I need to attend to so I'll be going now."

All the better. Kaito silently stared at his bedsheets while his sidelong glance observed Kudo approaching towards the door-

"And yes," he stopped on his track and turned back. "You're writing that explanation report. I want it on my table the next morning after you're discharged." With that, he finally left the ward and slid the door shut, leaving Kaito alone in his white cell, the four walls echoing the nudging feeling swirling repetitively in his chest.

He then realized, very much too late, that he had yet to even thank her for saving him too. He'd missed his chance, and had probably ruined every opportunity to bring it up again.

.o.

Kaito knew most girls liked flowers. But Aoko had always struck him to be the kind of woman who would say _"I'm not like most_ women _.",_ and in fact, to him, she was unlike most women he knew too. That was why this was quite unexpected for him.

He was staring at Aoko grudgingly from a distance, her face lighting up as brightly as the fire surging inside of him. True enough, those flowers she received were pretty, and true enough, she had every rights to be. But he felt... betrayed. Didn't he give her flowers too? Alright, not in a proper way like a surprise, but more of treating her as if her life was pathetic and she had to use flowers to change her luck in her life.

Oh. Or maybe it was because the flowers were from the _Mr-perfect-guy_ who had teeth that were so charming it deserved to be exhibited in the museum. Hakuba and Kaito had attended the police academy at the same time and they didn't really have a good time enjoying each other presence at all. Hakuba was a great role model and the best of everything that most men wished to look up to. But Kaito was _not like most men_. The fact that the Criminal affairs' department was just two floors above theirs was putting an extreme strain to Kaito's life whenever he possibly had to feel the air Hakuba had breathed out.

Aoko finally had the decency to _stop_ admiring the flowers and acknowledge his existence.

"What?" She muttered.

"Not _seeking_ for a promotion, hmm?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

Hakuba's identity was more of a mystery, unlike Kudo who appeared in the newspaper almost as much as pop stars. The blonde often travelled to England, so it wasn't weird if Aoko didn't meet him before. But the name? Was she so dense to not notice the name? Her following reactions proved to be true though, but he wanted to stir up some _more_ reaction from her because she had basically shaken his whole pot of feelings into a jumbled mess. It was unfair to him, so there's that for her.

And then she made an (unconscious) attack back at him by agreeing to the lunch invite and it was a fatal blow that made him end the game he was playing with her. Despite the free meal and the amount of money he would make Hakuba pay, he didn't want to be present to see those disgusting moments between them. It would ruin his appetite, and that would defeat his purpose.

So he slumped back on his seat and opened up his newspaper, ignoring Aoko's gaze before she left with the other two cancer cells out of the office. None of his business. _None of my business._ He'd got a can of coffee from the vending machine for company anyway, nothing else mattered.

But everything suddenly mattered when that freaking horse turned up to their office more times than murder cases came knocking on their door. And _that_ was some serious matter when Kudo was the Shinigami of the team. There was seriously nothing the Homicide Division had to do with Interpol, but Hakuba always used the excuse of settling _matters_ to come, even when Kudo wasn't in his office. The rest of the team had noticed his frequent arrival, but no one seemed to have the idea Aoko was the true reason he was there. Like how could _that_ be? _Aoko?_ _Attracting_ the Superintendent General's son? Really? Was that _even_ possible?

It was actually possible.

" _Damn_ , Aoko." Takashi gaped. "You've changed out into something... Whoa. Where are you going?"

Kaito looked up from his computer and glanced at the little commotion beside him. It was definite he would be staying for the rest of the night in the office, but if he was going to get constantly distracted, it would be next morning when he finished the report, which was exactly the time it was due.

Then again, he didn't mind _this_ distraction.

Her silky smooth legs went on and on till they reached the frilly hem of the black dress. His eyes wandered up past the fabric that was sticking tightly and fully embracing the shape of her waist and to her chest and the obvious collarbones. Reluctantly, without regrets, he looked at her face and saw her blossomed lips, rosy cheeks and the striking blue eyes that drowned all the colours around her.

"For dinner." She answered sheepishly.

"Who's that lucky guy?" Akira swooned. "And your heels are so pretty!"

"They're gorgeous!" Sawako added.

Could these people ignore the shoes and _look_ at her eyes?

"Thanks everyone, and I've got to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow" She glanced at her phone and gave everyone an apologetic look before skipping out of the office with her bag. Honestly, she didn't owe anyone any apology. It should be them who owed her the apology for wasting a beautiful woman's time.

Wait- _What?_

Kaito pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at his computer, the bunch of words suddenly feeling alien to him. Everyone was still lingering near him, wondering aloud who the man Aoko was having dinner with, but Kaito didn't feel like showing his wisdom this time round. It was obvious the answer was Hakuba, with the little hints and the small pool of possible suspects, and Aoko did actually mention it to him this morning, which he purposely deleted the information from his mind until now.

 _Focus on what is important._ He straightened his posture and began typing vigorously on his keyboard.

Seconds turned to hours and only when he decided to go for a toilet break then he realized the office was empty. He should just set his computer on fire and go home, but work was the only good distraction for him that night to not let his mind wander off to even more destructive thoughts-

"Hey."

His destructive thoughts had come to life as he spun around from his seat, eyes widening by a fraction at Aoko who was grinning at him. He only noticed the can of his favorite coffee when she waved it in her hand (He was getting a little confused with the entitlement of the word _favorite_ now).

Their usual jab and tease filled the empty office and only momentarily stopped when he made the decision to send her home. He already knew the report was going to be at the back of his priority list now when she came back to the office, but just like what he thought a few hours ago, he didn't mind _this_ distraction.

First thing on his list was to give her his flip-flops and let her walk better, the second was to drive her back and thirdly was to hope these things could make her understand that he was happy he wasn't a scumbag in her eyes. Happy might be an understatement, but he decided to just stick to the simpler term and went with it. He couldn't give her expensive dinners or nice high heels, but he hoped he could give her more than that, like the comfort of the flip-flops that those fancy things didn't provide for her. Her satisfying smile expressed better than a million thanks, and he couldn't help but stare at her a bit longer before she almost caught him in the act. Kaito bent down and took her heels that she had taken off for the slippers and passed it to her before heading to the door. He only stopped when he realized he hadn't said anything about the plan.

"I'll go get the car and you'll wait for me at the roadside." He glanced at her over his shoulder.

"Okay." She smiled at him and _it was like watching the last flower falling from a withered tree. Slowly, time stopping and hypnotizing..._

Kaito quickly left the office.

Round the corner of the corridor, he hastily leaned against a wall and pressed a hand on his chest and felt his heart beating rapidly against his rib cage, struggling to get out. Was his stamina weakening? Did he walk very fast? It couldn't be-

No. Forbidden. It shouldn't get out. _Don't get out._ He closed his eyes, knocking the back of his head against the wall as he sighed out all the air in his body.

"Shit."

.o.

Of all the talents Kaito had, comforting people wasn't his forte. He could whip out roses for upset women and surprise kids with doves if times for those were necessary, but to comfort people when they were sobbing, no, bawling like a waterfall with all the snorts and sadness, he didn't know how. So he learned and used the method Aoko was always good for and patted her back as gently as he remembered her doing to others, though it wasn't like his fractured hand really allowed him to exert any more effort than now.

"Th-Thank you. I'm fine now."

She was obviously not fine and he kept on going, but the stinging pain won over his determination and he gradually let his hand return back to his lap. The night was dark and she shouldn't have noticed, but she did anyway as she gasped about his injury. He debated disagreeing with her for the sake of it and that it couldn't be worse than the other casualties, but the defeated slump of her shoulder made him pause. He simply answered her question and watched her fumbled with her words, her face overwhelmed with guilt. He didn't like it when she was like that. He preferred the feisty and fierce Aoko who choose to care and stand up for what she thought was right for herself, not being guilty of things that weren't even her fault. Yes, even if her words did hurt him, even if her words reminded him for a split second when Jii died in his arms, it still wasn't her fault. It was never her fault.

He suddenly felt a vibration from his pocket and distractedly pulled out his phone. _Holmes' freak_ was calling. He clutched onto it tightly and answered, trying to ignore the piercing gaze Aoko was staring at him with.

"Hello?"

 _"Sawako's surgery is a success. She's out of danger as well."_ Kudo's voice filled his ear and Kaito could also hear a couple of excited chatters in the background. _"And the nurse complaint that you haven't even got your hand injury properly checked. Where did you run off to anyway?"_

Kaito instantly cut the call, a moment of relief washed over him. Everything was alright now. He didn't want anything to happen to Sawako, and he didn't want Aoko to go through those days like he did when Jii-

"What ha-happened?" Aoko choked. "I-Is it Sawako?"

He turned to her with a smile. "She's out of the operation room. Out of danger too."

Aoko literally flew up to her feet and began her jumping spree, her face filled with happiness and tear-stained marks on both sides of her cheeks. It was hard to sit and watch her bounce up and down without spraining his neck, so he stood up and let her continue her celebratory dance without any complains.

And then, like a million of times, she caught him by surprise and pounced onto him. He, or rather, _they_ were lucky that he managed to stood firmly onto the ground or they would've fallen together.

"She's fine. She's fine! Thank God! She's fine now!" She exclaimed into the crook of his neck. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Kaito should have used the chance to enjoy the moment rather than trying to regain back his composure. He gradually stared down at her brown hair rubbing against his face and...

His hands slowly moved up to her back and he closed his eyes, breathing in her scent as he rested his chin on her shoulder. She might not know, and would probably never know, that he needed _this_ more than her. He was just a selfish man, and she was too kind to think it like that. His lips tugged and his fingers curled, feeling the soft fabric and her skin underneath it. He could be even more selfish and asked for the power to make the time pause, but he let her break the hug just because he could see her smile before she sprinted into the hospital and towards the direction of Sawako's operation room.

He watched her back just long enough until he was sure he couldn't see her anymore before he followed inside. He couldn't believe himself for saying something as stupid as fate, but if this was the reason why this moment happened, if this was the reason why he met her, he was willing to be stupid and believe in everything he thought was once ridiculous to him.

For her.

.o.

There wasn't really a reason for Kaito to go to the bar as of late. He didn't have to drink as much to sleep without nightmares, or picking up women because they weren't the company he wanted. But he occasionally went to the bar to visit Hiroshi and share about everything, and Aoko. The old man was the only one who he thought was comfortable enough to talk to, and besides, no one else should know he cared enough to be _talking_ about her. That was that.

Kaito had many things he wanted to update Hiroshi about, but luck wasn't on his side as the old man wasn't on shift that night. He planned on leaving and coming another time, not until when his eyes glanced across the bar and he took noticed of a woman with striking resemblance to-

It was Aoko.

He scoffed to himself and shook his head disbelievingly. Without thinking further, he approached towards the bar counter and to her side. She was frowning at her beer and for a brief moment, he wondered if it was because of him. The frowning part seemed possible, but the fact that she was thinking about him? Nah, that couldn't be.

"You don't look so well," Kaito smirked down at her. "I think you're suffering from a lack of vitamin me."

She tensed and turned, her eyes wide with shock. "Kuroba-?"

"Can I sit here?" He hung his black coat on the back of the chair.

Maybe he was wrong about Hiroshi being the only person he deemed comfortable to talk to. He was wrong about many things actually, especially about Aoko. She wasn't drinking because she was lonely, she had self-esteem problems about her body, and her father was her dream. There were bits of mockery sometimes, but they'd managed to have a conversation that wasn't full of spikes and pitfalls, that flowed without either of them bristling into defensive mode (He managed not to even when she talked about magic, but he _had_ to say something in regards to fishes).

Kaito was staring at her with his chin resting on his hand, watching her fondly recollecting the times when she was in high school and meeting her best friend named Keiko. The music in the bar was soft, but Kaito couldn't concentrate on her words. It was just his seventh glass for that night and it was considered little for his strength, yet there was something in her voice that was driving him to dreamland. He wanted to hear more of her stories, but the power of her soothing voice was...

The first thing he expected when he opened his eyes was his bare ceiling and window that showed the night sky and telling him it was just another dream he had woken up from. But it wasn't. He blinked and focused his eyes on Aoko, who was sleeping next to him with both arms crossed on the counter and acting as a pillow for her head. Her lips were slightly parted, eyes closed and cheeks slightly blushing from the possible alcohol. He took his own sweet time staring at her before realizing a few minutes later, deep in his gut, he wanted to see this every single morning after he woke up. He straightened his posture and shook himself out of the impossible thought, to only notice something had fallen off his chair. It was his black coat.

Silly girl.

He jumped off his seat to pick up his coat and dusted it clean enough before spreading it over Aoko's body. Making sure he tucked her well, he sat back on his high chair and watched her for a few minutes until he lost focus again when a few strands of her hair dropped over her face. He was losing grip of the reason why he'd become a police detective in the first place and the answers for everything he desperately lived for was neither close or far. Yet there was a lock of hair that had fallen across her cheek and at that moment, it was the only important thing in the universe. His tentative fingers slowly inched toward her face as the sound of his heartbeat thumping against his ears had drowned the music in the bar. Carefully, he pushed her hair to the back of her ear and it happened in succession.

What hole had he fallen into? What trap had he set himself up now? Kaito retreated his hand to pull out his wallet and dumped a bunch of bill onto the counter. As he headed for the door in a hurry to escape from whatever his feelings were even attempting to _feel_ , he had to use all the cells in his body to not turn back.

* * *

A/n: Well... let the "happy" parts be "happy" together in one chapter while the sad parts be sad together in another chapter, right?


	11. Spiral Down

Circle of Fate

11: Spiral Down

* * *

Kaito had come to a conclusion that he was a goner.

Because her smile could make a graveyard turn into the most romantic place on earth for him. Because her bed hair and drool had become part of the list that attracted him in the morning. Because he was happy his car was damaged by the blast so he could see her for the first time for that day.

And because he had prepared the Kaitou Kid uniform underneath his clothes and made the inevitable choice. And _because_ he'd realized he had broken the heart of the girl who he didn't know he had the power to do so.

She _really_ shouldn't have given him any power to do so.

"I have something I want to tell you." Aoko's voice was just a whisper in the midst of the light rain hitting the concrete floor.

 _The wind is slightly in favor, but the rain isn't good._ Kaito frowned at the pitch black sky and wondered briefly if the flight or fright would be the main worry for Aoko. _There'll be turbulence, and with our weight combined..._

"There's something I need to ask you too. Are you af-"

"I think I like you."

 _With our weight combined... The wind_ _is rain... Slightly in good... Rain will be turbulence..._

His brain had officially shut down and all the words echoing in his mind made no sense to him or to anyone, in fact. But her words, the words she said, the words he _believed_ she said had destroyed all the nerve cells in his body to properly react. Kaito turned his head towards her in a robotic fashion and stared at her.

"...What?" He hoped the water that filled her eyes was rainwater and nothing else.

"I think- I think I like you."

The door of the roof suddenly rattled dangerously like it was about to burst open anytime soon and there wasn't any time to lose. After changing his plans for the millionth time that minute, he scooped her up from the ground and flew away with his new, white wings that sprouted on his back. Aoko tensely huddled in his arms at the beginning of the flight (which he wondered if this would be the last time he would ever carry her like this again), while the rest of the trip was just filled with a deafening silence that was louder than the raindrops hitting on his glider. They settled on roof he deemed safe and intended to leave Aoko as she was without a word, but he wondered what else could be cruel than doing that to her.

Kaito watched her like she was his sun, but her light and warmth were gradually diminishing to nothing as she spent most of the time glaring and spurting out her precious feelings he couldn't afford to carry, and all he did was to continuously give the wrong answers that made matters worse than before. It wasn't part of his plan. Nothing was part of his plan anymore. This identity was purely meant for backup, but to expose it in front of Snake and _with her_ at the scene, he _must_ go back, alone, to correct the mistake and pin all the attention only onto himself. Instead of explaining the plan he knew Aoko would never agree to, it would be easier to just end the years they'd spent building the tower of cards together with a simple swipe of his hand across the fortress.

Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. It wasn't easy at all.

"I think I like you too, Aoko."

 _Seriously_ , nothing was going well as planned.

It was a weird his glider didn't crash with how physically heavy and tormenting his chest was feeling then. The grand story of Pandora and immortality didn't matter to him, neither did the bullets that grazed his shoulders and arms after he yelled at those dumbshits about destroying their organization and flew away again. Because as he dived towards the direction of Jii's safe house and tumbled across the ground bloodied and in pain, all he cared about was the heart of the women he'd broken into two.

Everything was all a matter of bad timing. When he'd made his decisions, it had been too soon. When she had been ready to love him, it had been too late.

.o.

If tossing and turning was an Olympic sport, Kaito had been putting in enough practice to have a decent shot at making the team. It became a routine for him to wake up in the middle of the night and spent more hours trying to sleep than getting the sleep, so he made the wiser choice and put his time to think about the heists than doing anything else.

Jii's safe house contained most of the things Kaitou Kid needed. The equipment, the tools, the logbook and details of suppliers that Kaito could go to whenever he needed more props. But nothing could ever replace his personal gadgets he created since young. They were all his treasures, safely kept and locked up in the secret basement of his own house that he hadn't gone back since he became the ghost of the Phantom Thief. Now that he'd remembered, he should retrieve them before things started to get too busy for him.

The clock showed five minutes past one in the morning, a good time for him to sneak back without a need for a disguise. He loaded his card gun and other escape-convenient goodies and dumped it inside the hidden pockets of his jacket, just in case he met any hindrances that had been popping up occasionally at his heists and disrupting his balance between life and death. He slipped out of the safe house and ensured all the traps were properly set up before heading towards the destination.

It was a windy night. Nothing could be better than to cuddle on the bed and asleep under the warm duvets. Kaito had to travel a long way before he could get to the district where his house was situated, but the distance didn't bother him. Quiet night strolls helped to clear his head and focus on walking instead of thinking about things that damaged his heart

 _Anyway_ , just a bit more and his house should come into view-

He instantly felt the whole area around him plummeted by a few degrees as his eyes widened at the figure sitting outside his house. In a heartbeat, he hastily found a convenient phone booth in the middle of the empty street and sprinted as naturally as he could inside. He peeked through the glass window and heaved the greatest sigh in his life when Aoko didn't look his way.

 _Why the hell?_ He tried not to think about how long she could've possibly sat there as the same, natural squeeze plagued his chest again. She had grown thinner, he noted. Even from the distance, he could see how her hair framed her hollow cheekbones and weary eyes that were showing signs of giving up. But she still sat there for the next half an hour, like a flower in a vase of bleach, struggling and _trying_ to live _._ He had been standing in the phone booth for the entire time too, and all he could do was watch from afar and torment himself because this was what he deserved. But he wasn't the only victim. It was cold, and he would bet his life that Aoko didn't eat anything for a while and was probably as hungry as he was now. She didn't need to suffer like that. There wasn't a point for her too.

 _Please just go home._ He begged in his mind. _Don't do this to yourself._

As if she had heard him, she finally stood up from the steps and trudged to the roadside, her walking was uneven and sloppy and he suspected her feet got pins and needles. Before he contemplated whether to follow her back home, she waved for a miraculously available cab in the dead of the night and hopped in before it drove down the streets.

Kaito emerged from the phone booth and rubbed a hand down his face, weirdly exhausted for doing nothing at all. The silence in his neighborhood seemed so unfamiliar to him despite living here half of his life. Then again, how could it be not when almost every day in the recent past, every quiet moment was broken by their bickering about something irrelevant and pointless as they made their way to his house, but everything would be alright in the end because it never went any worse than five seconds of silence, and their private investigation about Snake would continue as per normal.

It was all over.

He shuffled his way to his house and sat on the doorsteps that Aoko occupied a minute ago, pathetically attempting to feel the warmth she could possibly leave on the concrete. Only after a long time, he finally noticed his black coat pooling at the corner of his steps and his flip-flops that was hidden underneath it. He picked up his belongings and stared at them in daze, the memories of why Aoko even had them in the first place came back and killed him as quick and easy like a stab in the heart.

Nothing had ever been better in his life, and this time, the world didn't prove him wrong.

.o.

Jii's safe house wasn't exactly safe, but it was definitely a house with many fancy storage systems and basic household items and necessities for a man to live in. It wasn't difficult to spot the house from afar when its exterior was eye-attracting enough, but the fact that it was located remotely on a little hill and away from the city life made its existence puzzling and mysterious.

But as long no one bothered, as long no one cared enough, Kaito would be safe in the house. The problem happened when those happened. Even if Aoko... even if Aoko didn't say anything, his act of disappearance and Kaitou Kid's revival couldn't have made the connection obvious enough to those pesky people who knew about Kaito's little back story. Everyone had their eyes on him, and the only thing he could do was to hide...

One day or another, he should just announce to the whole world that his life quote was: _Nothing ever goes well as planned._

Kaito sighed before slamming a glass of water onto the round coffee table situated in between two single couch chairs. He slumped onto one of the seats and stared at his very-unwelcomed visitor sitting opposite of him.

Hakuba glanced at the glass and scowled. "I've asked for ice, not water."

"Freeze it yourself with your heart."

He narrowed his eyes and slowly touched the light bruise that had appeared on one side of his cheeks. "Aren't you even guilty for doing this to my face?"

Kaito tried not to laugh at his _joke_. "My traps are setup for a reason. You've asked for it when you decided to creep in here."

"I don't have time to start another fight," Hakuba had given up and raised a hand to elaborate on his surrender. "I'm here to discuss matters with you."

"I don't have the time to talk to you about anything." Kaito crossed his arms lazily. "I'm busy."

"Of course, we are both busy men. With me chasing after Kaitou Kid at the Beika museum in three hours and two minutes, I assume you'll be busy doing something that is equally as ethical," Hakuba quirked an amused eyebrow. "Hopefully?"

 _What a pain in the ass._ "Thanks for your concern but my life has nothing to do with yours." Kaito grunted.

"That isn't true." He shook his head. "I've decided to put my utmost concerns for all the people she cares about."

Kaito's brows furrowed. "She?"

"Nakamori-san, of course."

 _Ha. Ha. Ha._ The people she cared about? He was no longer on that list anymore. _"_ I guess you're not very updated about her life, are you?" Kaito scoffed and showed a pitiful smile to Hakuba. It was meant for himself, actually. "Is she still avoiding you?"

"Not as much as how you're avoiding her, and everyone." Hakuba tilted his head innocently. Kaito could see Hakuba trying to suppress a winning smile and he had never, ever, been so close to wanting to punch his delicate face until now. But he thought about it and decided not. He had enough agony swirling in his chest, no need for the unnecessary pain for his fist.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Kaito snapped. "If you're not going to get to the point, please just get out of my house."

"My main priority isn't to capture Kaitou Kid." Hakuba began as the traces of his wry smile had evaporated into thin air. "He's never been my priority."

"Is that your excuse for not being able to catch him?" Kaito turned wide-eyed and glanced around the living room with elaborate care. "No one is here to hear your confession besides me. I knew you always suck at your job but I'll keep this as a secret, for the sake of nothing."

Hakuba was completely unfazed, much to Kaito's disappointment. The former continued on with his subject. "I, and the Interpol, have the reasons to believe Snake is targeting Kaitou Kid. Kaitou Kid was just the bait for me to get closer to Snake. Snake is my true priority."

It was hard for Kaito to keep his face plain from emotions with the mention of Snake. His eyes twitched and lips slightly curled down, but that was about all the expression he was willing to spare for Hakuba. "So? Why are you telling me this? It's none of my business."

"Kaitou Kid is not the enemy here."

"None of my business."

"His cooperation would be helpful."

" _Again_ , none of my business."

"I want you to work with me."

That caught Kaito by surprise, but his face fell lax and composure came back to him in no time. "I'm not Kaitou K-"

"Work with me as the smart Inspector Kuroba Kaito everyone praised about," Hakuba interjected before he glanced down at his watch. "Two hours and fifty minutes more to the heist and I don't have much time to spend here when I have many things to prepare. There's a high chance Snake will be there. We've been tracking his movement."

Kaito gaped. "You can track his movement?"

Hakuba grinned and Kaito sighed inwardly, knowing he had fallen into a trap, but he honestly couldn't give a shit at that moment. Tracking Snake would be his dream, and he was still in the midst of trying to find ways to do so ever since he started his night-time activity. Snake's appearances were always irregular. It was hard for Kaitou Kid to decide when to execute his plans properly or not.

"It took us a year for our spies to make their way and work under Snake personally. But it'll be another level and many more years to go to create something or someone that could lure Snake out of his _damn_ hole." Hakuba clutched his hands together to form a bridge and rested his chin on it. "Work with me and we'll lessen those years to a month to finally capture him once and for all."

"I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to do that for you." Kaito muttered as Hakuba looked at him with a pointed gaze. After many seconds of lip biting and contemplating, Kaito flipped both of his hands up and slammed them onto the armrests in defeat. He was so sick of everything, and if this was the one-way ticket to end this as soon as possible, he would take it. It wasn't even about having trust or losing pride at all, it was all the weariness that had been piling up inside of him that struck him with two choices to pick before he couldn't withstand his current life anymore. Jump onto the tracks or take the ride with the ticket. For a certain person in mind, the only reason he had to live, he'd chose the latter. "What's the plan?"

"Tonight will be the night." Hakuba picked up the glass of water from the table and raised it triumphantly. "I'll tell you on the way when we-"

"Don't."

Hakuba paused. "What?"

"Don't drink it."

He stared at the content in the glass before turning his suspicious gaze back at Kaito. "Why?"

"I've happened to put some laxative in it."

" _Seriously?_ " He set the glass back on the table with a loud thud, the fine gentleman act disappeared like the wind.

"In case you don't want to leave." Kaito afforded a grin. "But I guess I didn't mind the conversation so, yeah."

"Cynical." Hakuba drawled in a way that was exactly like the meaning of the word that just left his mouth. "Before we start, I think we need to work on our relationship first."

"I don't do relationships," Kaito spoke before adding a frown. "And I'll prefer if we don't have any sort of relationship between us."

Hakuba smirked and casually leaned against the back of the chair. "It's not your choice for that, Kuroba."

"I shouldn't have stopped you from drinking the water." Kaito muttered under his breath.

"You shouldn't have, but you did. And I guess that's an improvement in our relationship."

"Can you please stop saying _relationship_?" Kaito cringed. "Don't you have any other word for it?"

"Our bond?" Hakuba rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Our affinity? Our affair?"

"Alright. Just shut up."

.o.

Kaito had learned that under immense pressure, he tend to forget things. It was natural for this to happen to people, but he thought it wouldn't be much so applicable to him. He was trained for pressure, his life had always been filled with pressure, but maybe not till this point.

 _"Kuroba."_

"What?" Kaito spoke into the phone that was tightly clasped between his cheek and shoulder, his hands busily rummaging through his box of prepared props for his heists tonight. "I'm not convenient to talk now."

 _"Nakamori-san has been kidnapped."_

Because even up till the moment when he fought Snake down and pulled Aoko to his chest, he still wasn't remotely sane to remember he had unbelievingly obeyed all orders from Hakuba and surrendered his gun voluntarily because he didn't know if he was able to control himself and not shoot anyone he saw at the place of captive. But the pressure, the worries, the tightness in his chest were slowly being released when he ran down the flight of stairs with Aoko breathing in his arms. The parked ambulance was already waiting for her, and that was the point when he started to become conscious and aware of things, like how his eyes were painful and swollen from his tears, and how the paramedics started talking to him about his bleeding ear and the medical attention he needed but _fuck no, can you please fucking focus on Nakamori Aoko?!_ He didn't matter.

He didn't matter at all.

.o.

It took more than two hours of waiting before Kaito could finally breathe when the doctors came out of the operation room and deemed Aoko as fine. Inspector Nakamori began thanking all Gods as he followed the nurse to the counter to fill up some forms for Aoko's administration, leaving him sitting all alone in the waiting area, his hair messed up, the injured ear finally bandaged and his clothes dirtied beyond recognition of its original state. Quietness engulfed him while he let the information to continue to sink in.

"She's alright," his body was bent forward, hands loosely hanging between his legs as he stared at the ground and tried not to imagine the dust and dirt that Aoko was lying on because he was too slow to catch her when she fell to her side. "She's alright now."

Hakuba came not long after and sat on a seat beside Kaito. He briefly updated about Snake's fate and probably realized not long later he was just speaking to the walls. He sighed and simply summarized everything in one simple sentence.

"Everything is settled now."

"There is nothing that needs to be settled if there isn't a problem in the first place," Kaito muttered. "I was the problem."

"You're not the problem. Snake's the problem."

"No," Kaito took in a long, raspy breath and what came out was a shudder. "I'm the problem for Aoko. I should've left when I could. I shouldn't have stayed. And this was what happened when I stayed. I had put her in Snake's path, and if anything happens to her, it's the same as me doing it." He pressed his palms into his eyes, hard and sore and the way that would keep any tears from welling up. "People leave me when I stay. I should've known better. I shouldn't have-"

"It isn't about if you should or shouldn't have stayed," Hakuba interrupted gently and sighed. "It's because you couldn't leave her in the first place."

"I would leave her in a heartbeat if I knew this will happen."

"You wouldn't," he whispered reverently. "You'll stay to protect her."

"Don't give me so much credit, Hakuba." Kaito scoffed and dared himself to look up after making sure his eyes were dry. "It's unnatural for you and a little disturbing for me."

He shrugged. "I'm just stating the facts."

"Those aren't facts. They are nothing. The real fact we have here is that I don't exist in your operations and you are the one that saved her." Kaito jabbed a finger into the air between them. He had enough of displaying his emotions. Time to keep them in check. "I trust you to do the story-telling right, same goes for everyone on your team."

"Those orders aren't yours to say." Hakuba snapped.

Their usual rising tension came to a halt as soft footsteps could be heard coming towards their direction. It was the same nurse that was attending to their needs and questions when Aoko was still inside the operation room. Kaito knew it was time for him to go as he stood up and ignored the weird glances Hakuba was sending him.

"Nakamori-san had been wheeled into her new ward." The nurse informed and abruptly stopped Kaito as he was attempting to walk past her. "Are you not going to see her?"

He afforded a smile that was so weak he shouldn't have bothered. "There isn't a need."

"Oh. Alright then." Kaito didn't miss that skeptical look on her face, but it was the least of his concerns right now. The nurse then nodded over at Hakuba. "If you'll like, please follow me and I'll lead you to the ward. Her father is already inside."

Hakuba gave his usual charismatic smile and left his seat, but not when he tugged on Kaito's arm and stopping him from leaving. The nurse widened her eyes and was in a prepared stance to stop whatever fight that she suspected would happen between them.

"You're not going to see her?" Hakuba frowned.

"For what?" Kaito asked smoothly.

"For _what?_ " He stared at him, his face masked with a scandalized expression. "Stop making your life miserable and get a break."

"I'm originally a miserable man, so deal with it." Kaito shrugged Hakuba's hand off and hurriedly continued his way with large steps. He felt that tingle at the base of the skull that told him he was being watched, but it all ended when he turned down the corner and towards the lobby.

Knowing that she was fine meant the whole world to him. Seeing her would practically send him to heaven. But having to watch her lying on the bed, all bruises and bandaged... It was the same as throwing him into the pit of hell.

.o.

Besides staring at the walls in the safe house and failing very tragically with cleaning up all the Kaitou Kid's mess he had forsaken about, Kaito would drop by to hospital for reasons he didn't want to look too closely at. He had a couple of close calls since the hospital was a common place for the people working in the police force to visit, and now that Aoko was admitted, he was bound to see many familiar ones.

It was only till night time when everyone had gone back home and the hospital was now a better and serene place for patients to rest then Kaito emerged from his hiding. He stood outside Aoko's door, the only thing that was separating them and wondered if it was easier to smash the walls down or actually walking into the ward. After much contemplation, he realized there wasn't a difference.

"Are you intending to go in to see Aoko-chan?"

He spun his head towards the direction of the voice and watched the same nurse approaching him with the same skeptical look she gave to him that day.

"No." He admitted. "Not really."

"Yes or no, it's way past the visiting hour for you to be here," the nurse shook her head disapprovingly and hugged her clipboard tightly to her chest. "But anyway, who are you?"

He raised an eyebrow, not sure what the question meant. "Who am I?"

"To Aoko-chan," she elaborated. "Are you her friend? Colleague? Or relative?"

Kaito dug his hands into his pockets and shrugged. He wondered about this question often, and most of the conclusions that came about were around the same as the answer he spoke. "Someone that isn't important."

Her polite smile faltered. "I wouldn't bet on that," she responded. Her name tag displaying the carved words _Miyamoto_ shone under the dim light when she straightened her posture. "I've worked here for years and seen many similar looks like yours. You can assume Aoko-chan treats you as someone who isn't important, but it's obviously not the same for you."

He didn't have the energy to go through a round of interrogation about _this_ , but the nurse was nice, and he didn't want to ruin her mood with his crude replies that might affect the treatment she gave to Aoko. He simply mustered a smile and pointed down the corridor. "Sorry. I shouldn't be loitering at this timing. I'll go now."

"Hold up!" Miyamoto waved the clipboard at his face, stopping him at the moment. She glanced around the hallway discreetly before looking at him with a fiery determination in her eyes. "I'll let you in."

Kaito blinked. "What?"

"Aoko-chan is most often in a daze and sleepy and it'll take an earthquake to wake her up when it's night," Miyamoto grinned. "I'm the only one in charge of the night shift for her ward so you'll have your chance."

It was hard to be thankful when suspicion was in his way. "Why are you doing this?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Just an instinct that tells me this is what I should do." Her eyes began darting over the corridor again. "So are you going in or not? You better hurry or someone is going to pass by here."

This was an offer he couldn't refuse now as he'd already regretted once when the opportunity was given to him before and he had rejected it back then. His body hesitated for a few seconds before he silently slid the door aside and stepped in. He gave one last glance back at Miyamoto, who made a few wild gestures to shoo him inside until he obliged in the end.

The room was cold and comforting enough and the smell of medicines wasn't as strong as outside. The curtains were drawn up, not like it would bother Aoko when the moon only shone its light from her waist and down. The bandage had covered most of her forehead and her face was dark in the shadows, but he could see her features as clear as day. He stared at them for a long while before turning his focus on her chest that rose and fell under the blankets.

She was right in front him. Right here.

He spotted a stool at the corner of the room and picked it up and set it as soundlessly as he could beside Aoko's bed. He plopped onto his seat and slouched tiredly, finally able to not give a shit about being seen for looking as exhausted as he truly was.

There was nothing spectacular about this moment to anyone else in the world, but Kaito would never trade it for anything else in the universe. He stayed as he was until the minutes that passed had finally helped to bundle enough courage for him to gently take Aoko's hand that was resting by her side. Her hand was soft like he remembered, but it wasn't as cold and lifeless like now. The insufferable thought made him feel as if he was clutching onto shattered glass pieces rather than her fragile hand. But despite that, he wouldn't let go.

Something about her hand, something about her soft snore, something about her presence was giving him the rare effect of soothing his nerves and making him feel genuinely tired and desperate to make up for the sleep he had been lacking for months. He gradually laid his head on the bed and closed his eyes, feeling free for the first time in his life, and then the second, and the third time too. The cycle repeated. Miyamoto was nice enough to pretend to not see anything as he slipped into Aoko's ward for the next following nights.

But before the day comes, he would force himself to leave her ward and erased all possible signs of his presence. Because unlike his black coat and flip-flops, he wasn't sure how she would feel to know the existence of the comfort he wanted to leave behind for her.

.o.

The hospital felt like a second home to Kaito now. He had almost spent the entire day in the garden again, doing nothing except picking up Hakuba's call now and then to hear him rant about things he wished he could ignore but couldn't. Everything wasn't exactly settled, but he had more time to spare than Hakuba, who was still as busy as ever trying to find all the things Snake had done, including the assassinations of Kaito's family and Jii. Kaito wasn't allowed to participate in this re-investigation, though honestly, he was tired of reading the same file he had read for all the years in his life again. There wasn't a point. The point was they were dead and nothing could bring them back. What Kaito had done was simply making sure the same thing wouldn't happen to anyone else again.

There was really nowhere Kaito could think of going except here. He sat on a bench and watched the kids playing around together at the field and laughing with no worries from a distant. He thought he should walk or do something instead of staring into space because that was when his mind would go wild if his body was inactive. The children reminded him of the times he was young, though the difference was he didn't have many friends like them because his life revolved purely on magic and his father.

A random thought suddenly occurred to him. By some kind of chance, some kind of fate, if he had met Aoko when they were much younger and innocent and became friends, would everything turn out different from now?

He unconsciously smiled as he imagined flipping Aoko's skirt in their teenage years and tripping every boy that intended to confess to her. It would be fun, and pretty much less tragic than now, perhaps. He shook off the impossible thought in the end and glanced to his side, a natural thing he felt like doing all of the sudden until he realized why he really did.

Aoko was there.

She was standing in the middle of the walkway with her slippers and pink hospital gown that Kaito deemed too thin for her to be wearing out and not catch a cold with how fragile she was now. But he couldn't move, and didn't exactly know what he should do but to sit there and stare at her as she was looking somewhere else as distractingly as he was now. He wasn't prepared enough to see her while she was awake and being exposed to the pain he might give her, then again, he could _never_ be prepared for that day to come either.

But two kids in their bikes were enough to send him up to his feet and running across the field to where she was and dragged her aside to safety before she was knock down and hurt.

"Watch out you brats!" He yelled out at the distance. They better pray they wouldn't see him again on the real road when they got their license or he'd make them suffer.

At least one of them had the decency to shout back an apology.

It took him three seconds to realize what he had done and he instantly shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped away from her, giving her all the space he thought she would want from him.

She looked at him with her unnatural cold and emotionless eyes and Kaito wished he was surprised.

In just a few months, Kaitou Kid's appearance had shaken the whole world. Kaito was satisfied with the success of his heist to know he hadn't really lost his touch for magic, but the increasing amount of fan clubs, forums, and social medias being set up like a shrine for him, these devotions and admirations meant nothing to him. Kaitou Kid was just a phantom, an identity that didn't exist in this world, same for all the praises and recognitions directed onto him. Everything was nothing.

But for one split moment, one second of his life, he wanted Aoko to know what Kaitou Kid _and_ Kuroba Kaito would do for her. Both identities that existed today were all for her. She was all that he had left. And if anything were to happen to her, if anyone were to take her away, he had no idea what both sides of him _could_ do for her.

As of now, he couldn't speak, couldn't explain. He wouldn't call himself a hero for saving her when he landed her in this state. There was nothing for him to say, no stories for him to tell. All he could do for the seconds that lasted to a minute was to stare at her with eyes he knew were looking as sorry as he really was. And that was all he did before she suddenly turned her back towards him and walked away.

Ten minutes later, the two kids in their bikes cycled back and almost ran over him. He actually wished they did.

.o.

Just like the other nights, Kaito stood outside Aoko's ward with his hand on the door and considering his next movement for the following minute. It wasn't difficult to tip the scale and his decision was made the same as the nights he had been through here. He slid the door open and stepped in before closing gently behind his back.

The first thing he instantaneously noticed was the moon hanging by the window casting its light over the smooth and flat sheets on the bed. The pillow was still in its place, but the most important thing was that the owner wasn't. There was a sudden, deep rush of fear running up from the pit of his stomach as it gathered together in his chest and everything seemed to explode. _It couldn't be... Snake?_ He spun his body hastily towards the door to head out and-

Kaito was fast enough to react to the sudden movement that came from the corner of the room, and he was also fast enough to dissolve the fists he had clenched for the attack after realizing who it was.

Aoko twisted her leg to give his shin a mighty kick and he let out a sharp gasp, his bones turned to water as his stability was weakened. She used the opportunity and pushed him, easily tilting him backward until his body collided hard and painful on the floor. The next thing he felt was her weight over his stomach and for a brief moment, it was hard for him to breathe.

The only sounds that echoed in the ward were their attempts to catch back their breaths. He was lying beside the bed and a small ray of light managed to reach them. Only one side of Aoko's face was illuminated, and he didn't take the chance for granted as he observed her features at that moment. Everyone should have the same eyes and nose, but for Aoko, her looks were always different to Kaito whenever he saw them and it was never boring to him. The coldness in her eyes that scared Kaito wasn't there anymore. Instead, he could see a familiarity of warmness mixed with some other emotions he wasn't confident enough to confirm. But it was a good sign. A good sign to what, he wasn't sure. But at least she wasn't sending her disgust and hatred towards him through her eyes anymore. He really liked her eyes.

"Are you not going to say anything?" Aoko hissed.

The show's over.

"You look," he cleared his throat. "Well." If he was trying to prove the world he was stupid, this was it.

"Frankly, I'm actually not well," her lips curled down. "It seems your observation skills might have deteriorated, Inspector Kuroba."

"We should do a role reversal for this conversation," Kaito said as calmly as he could before his voice give it away and it turned hoarse at the end. He shifted in his position, but Aoko locked him down quite easily with both of her bent legs squashing his body in between.

"Why are you even here?" She started again and pressed her hands on his chest. Not a warning, but he guessed she didn't know where else to put her hands and his chest was the only choice for her, and a very wrong choice for _him._ His poker-face could be forced, but the rate of his heartbeat was vulnerable to her touch.

"To visit you." There was no other way for him to say it.

"You're only allowed during the visiting hours."

"I know." He remarked. "But I'm not sure if I'm allowed by the patient even if it's visiting hours."

She was at lost for words, but it didn't last long. "All visitors are visitors to me. No exceptions. I preferred sleeping without being stared at."

"If it feels better for you to know, I didn't do any much staring. I've spent most of my time in your ward sleeping with you." He said and the flash of horror that struck her face was hard to not notice. He nonchalantly added behind. "Wearing clothes, on a chair, and beside your bed."

"It's not funny." She spat.

"I'm not laughing."

Aoko paused. "Your heart is beating very fast." She sounded almost curious. "You're laughing."

The reason wasn't because he was laughing, not like he was going to explain that. Her pink hospital gown was thin and short, and the way her legs embraced his body was really not helping with anything besides literally giving him warmth, and also escalating his heart rate by sixty percent.

Their conversation was lacking a purpose, and Kaito had no idea what her intention of trapping him under her and speaking like this was for. But if she wanted to talk to _him_ , to the Inspector Kuroba she knew, then the following answers would be made under the fitted circumstances.

"Have you gained a talent in heart-reading while I was gone?"

"Pretty much," she stared at him wryly. "A lot of things had happened when you're gone."

"Expected."

"Snake tried to kill me," she cut to the chase, and her words sliced the silence like a scythe over grass. "And Hakuba saved me."

"Congratulations. The prince has saved the princess. When's the wedding?" He planned on using his signature mocking tone, one that always spiked her anger to its peak, but what came out was a whisper instead. He really couldn't do it even when he tried.

Her flat hands curled into two fists and she jabbed enough strength to make him choke. His arms were originally by his side, but he couldn't just do nothing now. He caught both of her wrists and pushed her weight just enough for him to sit up effectively. She refused to give up too but they'd indirectly compromised and she was now sitting on his lap, their eyes leveled with each other.

"You're a piece of shit, Inspector Kuroba," she muttered darkly. "You are a piece of _shit_."

"The same old thing."

Her face was glazed for a split-second and then she frowned. If her eyes were a weapon, the piercing glare could have caused serious destruction. But the fierce look backfired when her mouth began to quiver, slurring words that were all unintelligible and Kaito could only pick out one. "Why?"

"Why what?" He answered coolly. "Why am I a piece of shit?"

" _Why?_ " She growled like a volcano releasing its pent up emotions into the darkness. "Why don't you want to admit that you'd saved me?"

Her words were phrased as simple as it sounded, but Kaito didn't understand, as if his brain short-circuited and needed to be rebooted. He pressed his lips into a thin line and damned whoever had spilled the story. Kaito had a strong feeling the culprit was Hakuba, but this wasn't a question he would ask when he wasn't interested in continuing this conversation. He wanted out. Beyond the boundary of his no-touching rule, he attempted to grasp her waist just so to push her off, but she knew better and grabbed the collar of his shirt first, securing her placement.

"You can't even acknowledge that you saved me," she gritted her teeth bitterly and a light glinted in her eyes. "Was it shameful? Was it embarrassing? Why can't you give yourself some credit for your work and give me a chance to thank you?"

"Don't _thank_ me," he breathed, the image of Aoko's body on the floor ruptured his mind. He was the cause of it, not the savior.

Her face cringed in desperation. "You saved me."

"I landed you in this state," it was hard to keep his voice straight. "There's nothing for you to thank about."

"I signed up for it. I knew the risks." Aoko countered. "And I didn't regret it."

"You ought to, you know."

"No," Her voice was as quiet as the silence around them. "I won't."

"Well, I've regretted," Kaito spoke and he felt her entire body flinched on his lap. Again, he'd said something he shouldn't, but he wasn't even halfway done with what he wanted to convey. "I didn't want you to be hurt. I never wanted you to be part of any sort of danger. But I failed to see till this far and made my decision too soon because I was being subjective."

Aoko was caught by surprise. "You've taught me to never be subjective." She mumbled.

"I did. But I'm a liar afterall, like you once said." It was weird how she listened and remembered whatever he had said to her, but vice versa.

"No matter what you say, I'm alive now because of you." Her eyes wavered. "This fact will always remain. And if I can't thank you, then what should I say?"

Some time must have passed since the moon had shifted and more light was shining into the ward than before. Her whole face was now glowing under the pale natural light and- _Oh God_ , could someone even look so beautiful in a hospital gown?

"You don't need to say anything." Her existence was more than enough for him. "Just let me, stare at you. Like this." He whispered truthfully. "You don't have to say anything at all."

"That doesn't work for me," Aoko shook her head, her hands stuck firmly onto his shirt like a bear hugging a honey tree.

"Then do whatever it works for you." He said, his eyes already done its deed and breaking the deal. "Just don't thank me."

He saw her lips parted, about to speak again. But he was wrong. He saw her pupils dilated, in anger. But he was wrong. He felt her hands tightening around his shirt, wanting to shred it apart. But he was wrong. Kaito always took pride in his intellect, but for subjects regarding Aoko, he was never right. Just like when she plunged her lips with a good force that was surprisingly well-balanced for a person who claimed of not having any boyfriends before. Again, Kaito was wrong about her, but not really in a good way because it was rather suspicious for him to ignore. But now, he was too distracted by her rose-filled and sunshine lips to even _think_. He'd leave the interrogations for later.

"Your heart is beating very fast." They broke apart after a long moment and Aoko's tight grip was gone, her hands were pressing gently on his chest.

"It's not because I'm laughing." He decided to correct her this time round.

"I know."

Her smile was like a flower that bloomed during a full moon and he leaned over once she was done, capturing her lips for eternity.


	12. I'll always loop back to you

Circle of Fate

12: I'll always loop back to you

* * *

From the beginning when Aoko pounced onto Kaito and feeling him under her skin, everything about that night felt like a dream, including the mystical moment when she first pressed her lips onto his.

Aoko could sense the great inconvenience of her sitting on him and the way he was distracted with more things that were out of her range of understanding, so she, or they, temporarily kept their feelings aside for the night and decided to simply talk, not on the floor anymore but sitting side by side on the edge of her hospital bed. There was no hurry in their conversation, like the night would always be there for them and the sun was just a myth. All the time, Aoko was intensely fighting back the temptation of sleep and managed to keep herself awake enough to remember bits of their conversation. She talked about Shinichi's vague future plans, and while the incident with Snake was a nightmare, and that she already roughly knew what happened to that nasty criminal, she choose to listen as he explained and told his story, just so she could hear his voice.

The day came too soon and Aoko attempted to make him stay even though the sound of footsteps and mutters outside the ward grew louder and frequent. For once and to her greatest relief, Kaito stayed as he was told and they enveloped into a silence that was as engaging enough as their talk.

But slowly and ultimately giving in to the drowsiness, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, the last thing she saw was Kaito plucking a loose thread from his shirt and holding onto one of her fingers as gentle like a jewel...

The next thing that happened for Aoko was waking up with a sudden jolt and realizing she was tucked under the warm white sheets, the ceilings staring back at her in return.

 _Wait, what?_

Like magic, the door slid open on the cue and she turned swiftly to see the visitor. Guiltily, she was mildly disappointed when it was Miyamoto who came in, though honestly, she didn't exactly know who to expect either. Aoko slowly positioned herself up on her bed as she watched Miyamoto set a tray of food on the bed table.

"Good _afternoon_." Miyamoto shook her head amusingly. "You've slept in till quite late today. I was about to wake you up or you'll miss your lunch and your scanning schedule."

"Was a little tired." She half-admitted the truth. For staying up all night and sleeping at what godly hour, Miyamoto would rant all day if she knew Aoko had messed up her body clock.

"Come, I'll help you to the bathroom to get yourself wash up for the day."

"Thanks." Aoko smiled sheepishly before pushing the white covers off her legs. At that sight of it, she instantaneously remembered how she'd kicked Kaito's shin and tackling him down and... So was everything just a dream? It couldn't be, right? But she didn't know what to believe when there was nothing-

"Eh, what's that on your finger?" Miyamoto suddenly blurted as Aoko stood up from her bed.

"Hm?" What could be on her finger? She raised her left hand that Miyamoto was pointing at and her eyes widened at the sight of a thread curling around her ring finger, a neat and perfect knot tied at the end to keep the string in place.

 _Could it be-_

What a stupid dork. It was hard for Aoko to not laugh.

Detectives always liked evidence. And this was it. This was enough to prove he was here.

.o.

Though everyone was immersed in their furious typing of keyboards and glowering into the telephone because some witnesses were giving them trouble for the day, a sudden knock coming from the entrance of the office was loud enough to let everyone stop whatever they were doing for a second to see what it was all about.

"Is Nakamori-san in?"

"Yes?" Aoko stood up hastily from her desk. She broke into a sheepish smile once she understood why her name was called and skipped to the door.

It was the third time that week the receptionist came in, again, with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. After confirming the interruption and knowing the bouquet couldn't possibly be anything fancy or different with the seemingly common wrapper, everyone in the office returned to their current hectic and busy work again.

Aoko accepted the bouquet after a series of thanks before going back to her seat, mildly embarrassed to add the bulky flowers to her collection of gifts that were filling up her entire table. Though first thing first, she gazed down at the flowers, wondering who the sender could possibly be-

Carnation, tulips and roses.

The combination Aoko recognized.

"You're quite popular too, eh?" Sawako was the only one who expressed interest and dragged her roller chair over to Aoko, but the former's grin died away once she noticed the typical, common flowers. "Oh, another get-well-soon bouquet?"

Aoko smiled, her nose dipping low into the bouquet. The scent was as exquisite as how the flowers looked. "There's more to it than that."

Sawako raised an eyebrow. "Is it?"

There was a small card planted at the side of the bouquet and Aoko plucked it out and flipped it open to read. She would've rolled her eyes, but the sense of contentment reached to her first.

 _Surprise.  
-Kaito_

"Yeah," Aoko answered and pressed the card near her chest before turning to her side to stare at the empty desk and seat next to hers.

 _Bakaito._

.o.

Once Aoko exited the small forest and walked out to a clearing, the shadows of the dense leaves disappeared and what welcomed her was the sun that instantly lit up her view and it took her some time to accustom to the sudden brightness.

She crushed the paper that Hakuba had written the specific geographical location on and stuffed it into her pocket once she knew she'd got to where she wanted. Though the up-slope gave her quite a bit of a difficulty during her little adventure, her goal of getting to the hilltop was much more important than her still-recuperating health and weakened stamina. The white clouds were hanging low that late afternoon, a perfect time and weather for a nice little picnic if she was in the mood, which she was obviously not. Because the only reason she was here was for the house situated at the far end, right at the edge of the hill that faced the city.

Her perception of a safe house was something similar to a dungeon cell, or a lair hidden on a secretive island that wasn't found on the map or some sort. Even as a police detective, she got quite the creative cells to think of all these. She guessed that was what Kaito would probably say to her if he heard her aloud.

There was something about the exterior of the house that made her feel at ease. Maybe she'd picked the right choice to come in the day as the light did enough justice to make the pale peach walls and shaded glass windows oddly welcoming rather than the opposite. She crept across the out-of-place yet neat clean cut grass and stood before the wooden door, her face set with determination.

After all the climbing, Aoko wasn't going to go back down for nothing.

There was no bell, of course, so she raised a fist and knocked with her knuckles twice. She couldn't hear a sound so she tried again, and then again, until the door suddenly whipped open right at the second when she was considering to bang her fist instead.

Kaito was there, standing dumbly like he had been pinned back by a gust of air. His hand slowly left the doorknob and he used his fingers to brush his wild hair, a defeated sigh following afterwards.

Aoko waited for another second for him to say something, which he didn't. It was a conflicting battle, but her agitated annoyance won over the flutters of her heart just by a point. "Are you not going to invite the guest in?"

He quirked an eyebrow skeptically. "I'm pretty sure I didn't send out any invitation to begin with."

" _Surprise._ " She feigned an innocent wide-eyed look that was also equivalent to _I dare you to repeat that again._ He ought to get the reference too.

He supplied a faint scowl that didn't last any more than a second and walked back into the house with the door left open for her. She skipped in before taking her own sweet time to shut the door, saving herself some extra seconds to glimpse around the house while his back was still facing her. All the walls were surprisingly white and bright, but the furniture was sparse and little, which was unbelievably less cozy than the pantry area at the office (Aoko couldn't believe she was comparing a house to a pantry area. This was a record). What she felt outside of the house was the complete opposite feeling of what she saw inside, and right at that moment, a sense of emptiness started to pull her heart down to her stomach. It suddenly occurred to her that this house could've perfectly described Kaito as a person. Maybe she was reading in between the lines too much or her job habit was taking over her life, but deep inside her heart, she thought it was probably true.

Wait- Where's Kaito?

She spun around in the middle of the supposedly living room, her eyes darting to one corner and then another until Kaito quietly appeared again, from somewhere she didn't notice with a cup of hot and steaming coffee in his hand. He carefully twisted the mug so she could take the handle and avoid burning her fingers, which he ended up becoming the victim because of it. It was always the little things he did, like this, that made her heart skip a beat and she couldn't explain why. Something to do with love, probably. Her cheeks turned warm at the thought.

Love was still quite of a foreign thing to her.

"Maybe it's too late to ask but I guess you don't mind coffee?" He said when she didn't seem to respond to the drink in her hand.

"I don't mind at all," she took a whiff of the aroma and smiled. There was a faint recognition of it and this was more than enough to make her awake and happy, even better than the effect of caffeine. "Thanks."

Kaito nodded and gestured to the two single couches and the coffee table in the middle of the chairs. "Do you want to take a seat?"

She didn't miss the overly-polite tone he was using. It was always one of the games he played. "Are you seriously going to treat me like a guest?"

"You did say you are one." He rebuked perfectly.

Aoko huffed. "We can spend the whole day throwing grenades at each other like this but I don't want to." She took a small sip of coffee as a sign of appreciation before setting it on the round table.

He looked like he wanted to say something but after thinking otherwise, he stopped and swallowed the words back. It was unlike of him if those words he wanted to say were mean and insensitive things, so it must be something _important_ , at least to her if he thought it wasn't important enough to say anymore. His own feelings were always placed at the near bottom of his list of things he cared about to share, ironically.

"Am I bothering you?" She tried to head for this direction. Maybe it sounded better if she phrased it this way.

"No," Kaito clarified almost immediately, much to her surprise. He dug both hands into his pockets and glanced at the wall that suddenly seemed very suspicious to Aoko when he looked at it that way. He continued before she could say any word. "It's just that time's a little bit tight. There's some stuff I need to do."

"Would that explain the reason why you hadn't _or_ didn't return back to the force?"

Kaito turned back to her and grinned. "Why? You missed me?"

She purposely rolled her eyes in the rowdiest manner, but the flare that was rising from the back of her neck to her face couldn't be controlled. "You're not replying my question."

His cheeky smile faded, just a little. "Yeah, sort of. Maybe."

"If I'm allowed to know," she paused and bit her lips hesitantly. " _If_ , like I've said. Can you tell me?"

He looked vaguely distant, as if remembering something rather than seeing what was in front of him. "Magic props. Tools. Everything valuable in the line of trade that I have in possession... I'm currently gathering them for an interested dealer."

Aoko gaped, her jaws slowly dropped. "W-What? Why? I don't know but-" She was suddenly at a loss for words and it took her a great measure till she found back her voice. "But didn't you gr-grow up with it? With magic? It's your life!"

"And then I became a police detective and fought crimes and met you." His eyes twinkled, but there was a faint hint of dullness somewhere that Aoko thought she couldn't have imagined. "How weird could my life's timeline get?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You're avoiding the question again."

"I'm still figuring some things out," he shrugged impassively. "Somehow and some way."

Everyone else in the world would've missed the beat in his monotonous voice, except for her. She heard it before; she recognized it, under the rain and on a particular roof. But this time was a bit different. It was all too clear for her. She braced herself first for the answer to the question she hadn't yet asked.

"So you're leaving?"

The sharp alarm in her voice was too obvious for him, which she was glad it was because it was her greatest intention. Kaito stared at her with a poker face before it cracked into a guilty smile, one that sent her temper automatically rising to the top.

"You've left me and came back for two seconds and you're going to leave again?" She growled, her hands turning numb from squeezing it into a fist too tightly. "I'm not a pit stop."

He let out a sharp breath that resembled a laugh. "It's an interesting comparison but no, you're not a pit stop. I've thought of something better."

"This isn't some kind of word game-!"

Kaito took a step closer and put his lips cautiously to hers, like he knew he shouldn't be doing what he was doing yet couldn't really help himself. His mouth was urgent, but once she moved her lips, she felt him soften, as if despite himself and the depth of his feelings, he couldn't be hard to her. That was what she believed. After the sparks and the pleasure of their silent conversation that would last, indeed, lasted, he pulled away from her, which was a great deal to do so for him and her.

"You're my home," Kaito whispered and dragged his hands that were originally clutching onto her shoulders and let it swing back to his side. "But one that I'm afraid to live in."

This caught her attention other than his lips. "Why?"

"There's many things that can destroy a home." He lowered his gaze. "I can't afford that to happen."

"Then what are you going to do?" Her throat tightened but she willed herself to continue. "Are you letting someone else who has the sense of responsibility to come and occupy it? Or are you going to abandon the house till it turns dusty and old and _damage beyond repair_?"

Kaito pinched the bridge of his nose, not in annoyance, but more in amusement. She could see the corner of his lips tugged upwards, a little gesture that made her undeniably a little bit less unhappy even if she forced herself to be upset at her maximum potential for this moment. Why must her feelings mess her up in such a way?

He finally looked up at her, his full smile showing. "I can't believe we're conversing in metaphors."

"Don't change the subject." Aoko jabbed a finger at his chest. "Tell me what you're going to do."

And then to her mild surprise, his hand engulfed the hand she was using to poke him and aimed it a little bit more to his left. She glanced up at his face sharply, wrong-footed by the change of mood.

"I've locked the keys here. No one is getting in unless it's me and only me," Kaito said with a bulk of confidence as his thumb teasingly caressed the skin on the back of her palm, freezing her entire body still and unable to interrupt his dumb cheesiness that she couldn't stand. He continued suavely. "And you're the only house that accepts all my shit. I should be the one worrying if you'll abandon me, not the other way."

Aoko wanted to peel her hand away from his, but there was this invisible magnetic force that made her fail (In all honesty, she actually barely tried). Her pointing finger curled back to its place and she placed her flat hand on his chest, a wave of familiarity soaking her from head to toe. It didn't take her long before she could feel the strong rhythm thumping against her palm and easing her back to the point of calamity, though she thought her heart was probably beating equally as fast and hard as his.

"You're stupid." She broke the silence first.

His features softened, only the twinkle of his eyes remained. "I love you too."

She was going to get fever sooner or later with the amount of heat her face was getting for the past ten minutes. "I'm not going to abandon you, _stupid_." Aoko blurted out with a good force to hide her possible stuttering tone. "I'm staying as long as you come back. But there must be a promise to it."

"Promise?"

Aoko stuck out her little finger with the other hand that wasn't on his chest. She watched him fervently, his face slowly crumpling into a form that she recognized as his brink of bursting out laughing like always. After a long while, she cut him off once his melodic chortles stopped echoing in the house. "No matter how far you go, I'll be here when you return." She finished solemnly.

Kaito heaved a sigh that sounded more carefree than his big smile was showing. "Promise." He wrapped his little finger around hers and gave a firm shake.

Their fingers were stuck together, feet barely inches apart and her hand was still on his chest, feeling his soothing heartbeat. It was the weirdest posture she'd ever been with a man, yet the thought of moving away never appear in her mind.

 _Don't leave so soon._ "Do what you think is right for you," she muttered into his chest. "You know I'll support you."

"I love you too." He said softly.

 _Remember to come back._ "I believe in you."

"I love you too."

Her first confession wasn't a good memory, but the same man that scar her healed it the same. And even though Aoko knew he knew how she felt, he deserved to hear the words once and many more times she could ever say to him.

"I love you, too." She finally breathed. It sounded a lot easier to say than she thought.

He broke into a grin and she swore for a moment, she felt his heart beat twice as fast under her palm. "So will you be my home?" He asked, a faint tone of serenity flowing in his voice. It was something peaceful and charming that she wished she'd recorded to play it every night before her sleep because no alcohol could ever bring that effect on her.

Aoko scoffed at his silly question, but a smile crept in afterwards. "You've got the keys long ago."

Without a word, he embraced her with a tight hug that was sheltered and comfortable, cancelling out all the little bits of cold and desolation she felt when she first stepped into the house. Her hands moved up to his back and she tiptoed just a little to dig her face further into the crook of his warm neck.

She was his home, but he was the same to her too. And if this was what home felt like, Aoko wished she could stay like this forever.

.end.

.

.

.

Shinichi flapped the two tickets near his cheeks, trying to dispel the heat in the humid air. He'd just missed the red light and it'd probably take around a minute before he could cross the road, much to his slight annoyance. The watch that his brilliant inventor neighbour specially gave to him showed a little past seven in the evening.

Shit. He's late.

As if it would help, Shinichi pressed the pedestrian crossing button a little harder than intended and decided to put his mind elsewhere for better distraction and keep his cool. He gazed down at the tickets in his hand.

 _Kuroba Kaito presents_  
 _WALLFLOWER_  
 _The Grand Illusionist_

For some odd reason Shinichi didn't understand, he would scowl at the word _illusionist_ , though in the end, one side of his lips unconsciously tugged, just a little. He caressed the tip of his tickets and kept it back into his breast pocket safely to avoid any more wrinkles from the waving and flapping he had been doing for a while. First thing first, he was already late. The last thing he wanted was to ruin the evening even more by presenting Ran the terrible state of the entrance ticket he was in-charge of keeping.

"Your fate spells disaster very soon."

A voice suddenly whispered beside his ears and he turned, his eyes staring dazedly at a model-like woman standing next to him. A group of people were slowly gathering at the edge of the road like him, waiting for the red man to turn green, yet the first thing he caught sight out of the crowd was this particular woman. There was this weird aura she was giving off-

"You've already met your destiny," she spoke again before shaking her head sadly at him. "But the child in you will bring about an unforeseen predicament you'll never expect in your life."

Shinichi blinked.

"...What the hell are you talking about?"

 _...or not?_

* * *

A/N:  
Yes. It's the end.  
 _... or not?_  
Okay, just joking. It's over.  
Here's the ending! (I'm actually suffocating at the number of times the word _love_ appeared ahaha) Hope you guys liked it the same as I do...? AHHH anyway, thank YOU all for reading till the end and all of YOUR support means a lot to me! :') Hope to see you around again soon!


End file.
